


The Legend Sticks Around

by ALittleBitofThis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Illusions, Mind Manipulation, Mysterio - Freeform, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer, Stark Industries, This was canon until the actual movie came out, Tony Stark Lives, but has similarities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleBitofThis/pseuds/ALittleBitofThis
Summary: "Tony, I don't understand. How are you alive?!""I need your help, Parker."In the midst of Shield's insistent recruitment of Spider-Man, Peter's shocked when Tony reveals himself as secretly alive... and he wants Peter to help him take back abandoned Stark tech. However, something seems different about Tony, and Mysterio seems to be aggressively caring for Peter in his place. Left on his own, Peter can barely tell what to believe, much less what to do.-An alternate plot for Spider-Man: Far From Home with more Tony Stark. Based off the trailers, but plotted out before the actual movie came out.





	1. The Set-Up

**Author's Note:**

> This is canon-compliant with the Spider-Man Far From Home trailer, but I will note that it's a take on a possible plot for Far From Home, so it's likely to end up canon-divergent.

“Ned?” Peter climbs through his window and carefully closes it behind him. He goes to his friend, still lying on the table, and he takes the dart out of Ned’s neck. “Ned. Hey, wake up.”

Ned groans, eyes fluttering awake. He stares at the ceiling with bleary eyes before going to sit up. The entire room spins, and Peter steadies him before he accidentally rolls off the table. Ned looks Peter over-- or rather, Spider-Man.

“Dude, why are you in your suit? What happened?” Ned asks, trying to remember how he got here. Peter pulls his mask off and tosses it onto his bed.

“Uh… yeah… about that… Nick Fury tranqued you.”

“He what? I got tranqued by Nick Fury?! Awesome,” Ned whispers. He starts to get up, but the room sways again. “Oof. Doesn’t feel very awesome though.”

“Yeah, let’s get you into bed,” Peter pulls Ned’s arm across his shoulders, and he helps his best friend onto his about-what-you’d-expect-for-a-cheap-hotel bed. Ned looks up at him.

“What happened after he hit me?” Ned asks. Peter runs a hand through his hair.

“Uh, a lot. He said that there’s this mission. He wants me to help,” Peter starts to explain.

“But why couldn’t he have just like… called you or something?”

“Uh… yeah… about that. He did. I ghosted him,” Peter says sheepishly. Ned’s eyes widen.

“Dude, you ghosted Nick Fury?!”

“Yeah, not my best move. Anyway, remember how I’ve been trying to take a break from Spider-Man?” Peter asks, waiting for the confirmatory nod from Ned. “Yeah. He wants me to ‘step up’ or whatever. Something to do with the snap. Oh! Wait, dude, guess what?”

“What?”

“There’s a freaking multiverse.”

“What?!” Ned sits up, not even caring how it makes his head spin. “For real?!”

“For real. I met this guy who’s from another dimension. Apparently, I didn’t exist there, and they want to help me get him home. For whatever reason, all the other big-shots are otherwise occupied, so they want me.”

“Dude, that’s so cool,” Ned says, mouth open in awe. Peter sits down on his own bed now, picking up his mask. He hadn’t liked having to hear Karen in his head tonight. He muted her pretty early on, but there’s a reason he’d been wearing the Iron Spider suit. Karen wasn’t in that suit, and so he didn’t have to be reminded by Tony as much.

“I don’t know, Ned. I just… I don’t feel ready,” Peter sighs. He runs his fingers over his eye lenses. “I’m gonna go out for a bit. Maybe some crime fighting will clear my head.”

“In your suit? This isn’t New York,” Ned reminds. Peter nods.

“I know. They… uh, Shield… they gave me a new suit. One that they made instead of… y’know…” Peter trails off with a heavy sigh. “It’s just black. No one should be able to identify me, and I don’t intend on being seen anyway. I just wanted to check on you before I went out.”

“Okay. Well, I’m woozy, but I’m okay,” Ned responds. “Probably just gonna sleep this off. Make sure you’re back by the wake-up call.”

“I will, Ned,” Peter promises. He doesn’t move for a while, waiting for his friend to firmly be asleep before he gets up to change into the new suit. It fits well, maybe suspiciously well. Maybe Nick Fury got his measurements from To-- him. Peter wipes his eyes and pulls on the mask.

* * *

Peter’s sitting on the edge of a roof, watching the cars go by. He assumes there must be a low crime rate here, because in half an hour, he hasn’t heard a single set of sirens go off. It is a clean city in relativity to New York, he supposes. Almost too clean to be real. There’s barely a hint of trash on the streets, whereas trash is as much of the terrain as the sidewalks and asphalt in New York City. Peter’s spidey-sense-- as Ned coined it-- goes off, and it’s soon followed by a verbal “Hey.”

Peter twists around. “Beck?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Mr.Beck says. “Mind if I join you?” Peter just shrugs, and the man sits down next to him. Neither of them speak for a while.

“Nice view,” Mr.Beck pushes. Peter looks to him.

“Did Fury send you?” He asks. Mr.Beck smirks and puffs out air through his nose in a half-laugh.

“Fury did say you were a smart one.”

“So he did.”

“He thought you needed extra convincing,” Mr.Beck explains. Peter huffs and pulls his knees to his chest, folding his arms over them. Beck looks at the teenager beside him. “You got a lot of weight on your shoulders, kid.”

“I wish I didn’t,” Peter admits. He’s more than happy to try and save the world, but this-- a multiverse? It just felt out of his league. Last time he went out of his league, someone died. If he hadn’t gone to Titan, maybe he wouldn't have died. Maybe the odds would’ve changed, and maybe you-know-who wouldn’t have done what he did if Peter was still alive. Pepper and Happy made the mistake of telling Peter that Tony was doing it for him. They thought it would make him feel better. All it did was make the kid guilty. He didn’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves for him.

“You want a drink?” Mr.Beck offers, unsure of how to otherwise take the stress off. Peter scoffs a little.

“I’m 17.”

“I didn’t say it had to be alcoholic. Come on. It’s on me,” Beck urges. Peter sighs and looks out over the square. He doubts anything is going to happen.

“Okay, but let’s stay close. I need to be able to get back to the hotel quickly if my friend calls,” Peter relents. Beck smiles and pats him on the back as he gets back to his feet.

They find a small tavern of sorts that is almost empty, and the bartender consequently doesn’t complain about Peter sitting at the bar. Spider-Man’s mask is off, but he’s in a non-recognizable version of his suit, so he’s not too worried about it. Quentin Beck orders a beer, and the bartender looks to Peter expectantly.

“Same for you?” He asks. Peter shakes his head.

“Uh, no. I’m good. Do you guys have uh… orange juice?” Peter asks. The bartender chuckles.

“Sure. Coming right up.” Peter hides his blush at being so young.

“So what’s bothering you so much? You’re a little too brooding for the reasons you gave Fury. Something else going on? Girl trouble?” Beck gives Peter a playful push on the arm.

“No! I mean… there is a girl, but..,” Peter shakes his head. He knows what his reasoning for not wanting to go on this mission is, but he realizes Beck thinks a girl might involved, and that honestly seems like a more appealing excuse. “I just want a normal life.”

“I could see that,” Beck agrees. “But you’ve been Spider-Man for a time already.”

Peter runs his hand through his hair, trying to come up with some better excuse than not being over to get over Tony. He knows he should get over it. He just can’t.

“What do you want, Peter?” Beck asks. “What makes you tick? Why are you doing this?” The words mirror what Tony asked Peter all those years ago, and Peter’s grateful for the sudden arrival of his orange juice. He takes a long sip to delay answering.

“I want to go back on my trip with my friends and with the girl that I like, and just have a good time. I don’t want to deal with all this multiverse, saving-the-world stuff.”

“But you did it all before,” Beck asks, furrowing his brow in confusion. Peter groans in frustration.

“Yeah, but that was before he- before…”

“Before?”

“Before Tony died, okay?” Peter spits out. He takes a deep breath, feeling Mysterio watch him.

“Tony?” Beck asks. “Who was he?”

“You guys didn’t have an Iron Man?” Peter raises his eyebrows. He knew Mysterio was from a different universe where Spider-Man didn’t exist, but Tony… he felt inevitable.

“Well, we have Iron Man, but I just didn’t realize-,” Mysterio rubbed his chin. “Hmmm… Tony Stark as Iron Man. Who would’ve thought?” Peter paled a little. He hadn’t thought of that. Maybe Tony kept his identity a secret in Mysterio’s universe.

“So, what? You and Iron Man were a thing? A… a duo or something?” Mysterio tries to bring the conversation back on track.

“You could say that,” Peter sighs. “More of a… a mentor… I guess. Wait.” He gets an idea. “Do you think if I came to your world, that I could meet _your_ Tony?”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea kid,” Beck says skeptically. Peter ducks his head.

“Yeah, probably not. He wouldn’t know me, would he? Bad idea,” Peter sighs in disappointment, being reminded once again that Tony… _his_ Tony, was gone.

“So, let me make sure I have this straight,” Beck takes a deep breath, turning to face Peter. “You’ve been doing this saving-the-world thing for a while, your mentor died, and you aren’t ready to get back up yet?” Peter bites his lip.

“I mean… that’s one way to put it. Not how I would put it, but sure,” Peter mumbles.

“How would you put it?” Beck asks. He puts a hand on the teenager’s shoulder, trying to give some semblance of support.

“I was dead for five years. I know it must’ve felt like forever to him, but for me… it was all the blink of an eye. Everything happened so fast. It feels like last week we were hanging out and working on updates for suits in his lab. Now that Tony’s gone, everyone… they expect me to be _him_ . But he’s him and I’m me. I don’t know if I _want_ to be Iron Man. This trip was supposed to be a break from Spider-Man. I didn’t even mean to bring the suit. So, yeah, I don’t think I’m ready for what comes next, whatever that is. I need more time, but I also feel like there’s this responsibility that’s being placed on me to do what he did, and I’m not sure I can handle that,” Peter rambles. Beck nods in understanding, and Peter pulls away to rub at his eyes. “God, I just wish he was here.”

“What if he was here?” Beck asks, watching him closely. Peter shakes his head. He’s had plenty of dreams about that, and they’re never real.

“He’s not here. He’s gone,” Peter denies.

“But if he was? What would you ask?” Beck questions. Peter tosses his hands up in the air.

“I don’t know… I guess I’d ask if he… if he thought I was ready. If he thought I should do this. He always understood that I struggle to keep the balance between keeping my head out of the clouds and making the best of myself.”

“Well,” Beck pats his shoulder lightly. “If it helps at all, I’ve seen some footage of you in the field. It seems like you’ve got what it takes, if you ask me. I think you’re ready.”

“Maybe,” Peter sighs, and almost all at once he remembers that Beck was probably sent here to coerce him into saying ‘yes’ to the mission. He’s heard that’s how Fury works. He finishes off his orange juice, not wanting to deal with this anymore. “Look, I gotta head back to the hotel before anyone notices I’m gone. I’ll- uh… I’ll see you around, okay? Thanks for the drink.”

Peter hops off his stool, grabbing his mask. He doesn’t wait much for Mr.Beck’s goodbye before he heads outside. He’s only moved a few rooftops when he hears some sirens. He sags in relief. Finally… he can blow off some steam.

It’s a car chase, with one black sedan swerving and maneuvering wildly with multiple police cars in pursuit. Spider-Man extends his arm and jumps off the roof, swinging after the car. He lands on the top of one of the police cars, and he hears shouts in another language, but he ignores them, rapid-firing webs at the back axle of the getaway car. The stickiness easily stalls out the car, and the back wheels can barely turn. The smell of burnt rubber fills the air as the driver tries and fails to keep the car moving.

Spider-Man flips off the now-stopped cop car, and he watches as they pull the driver out of his seat. He grabs Peter’s ankle, causing the teenager to startle and jump back. He’s screaming in French, and Peter can barely understand him. The man looks terrified, pointing past the police officers and rambling more. Peter follows his gesture. There’s nothing there. Weird. Maybe he’s hallucinating or on drugs or something? Spider-Man watches to make sure that the man is firmly in custody before swinging back to the hotel. He lands on the roof, pulling off his mask again and fixing his hair. The fire escape should go right down to his room.

“Peter.” A voice. A voice stops Peter dead in his tracks, and his heart feels like it’s dropped off the building. He knows the voice. He knows it’s in his head. He starts toward the fire escape, not daring to turn around.

“Peter. It’s me,” The voice repeats, and Peter shakes his head. A hand from nowhere grabs his forearm and spins the boy around to face its owner. _Tony_.


	2. Gotta Believe It's Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tries to wrap his head around this idea. It can't be true, can it? Meanwhile, Shield pushes Peter to continue to fill shoes a few sizes too big.

“Peter, it’s me,” Tony says, staring down at his kid. Peter doesn't move. He just stares back up at him for a long moment before forcing himself to turn away.

“No,” He whispers hoarsely. “You’re dead. You’re not really here.” Peter pulls his arm back toward himself, but Tony doesn’t let go. He sees Tony in his dreams, but Tony never touches him. This is different. But still isn’t real. It could just be pressure on his suit. It’s been a long day. He’s tired.

“Let go,” Peter says, voice cracking. He still won’t look in Tony’s direction.

“Peter,” Tony repeats. His other hand reaches for Peter’s chin, trying to turn his head towards him. Peter lets it happen, but he keeps his gaze down, only looking at his former mentor out of the corner of his eyes. He knows it’s not true.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Peter asks, voice tired and sad. Tony’s face softens, and his hand moves to cup Peter’s face.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s me, Parker. I promise you— I’m alive,” Tony says gently. Peter shakes his head.

“I watched you die.”

“I know.”

“I went to your funeral..,” Peter remembers how much that day hurt, and the memories cause his eyes to water. He blinks the tears away and focuses on an extremely interesting spot on the concrete room.

“I know.”

“Then why on earth would you still be alive?” Peter demands, and he can’t stop the biting tone in his voice. “You  _ left _ me, and now you want me to think you’re alive?  _ How  _ are you even alive?”

“They healed me.”

“Who?” Peter questions. “Dr.Cho?”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m here, Peter. I’m really here,” Tony says. Peter bites his lip. All these months, wishing it was true… something has to be off here. Tony grabs Peter’s wrist, bringing the gloved hand to his chest to feel the man’s heartbeat. Peter listens and feels, finally lifting his eyes to look at Tony’s face. It seems real… but then he pulls his hand away, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Peter asks carefully. Tony sighs.

“I needed to make it believable. No one else knows I’m alive. Just you,” Tony admits.

“Why me?” Peter says, disbelief crossing his face. “Pepper? Morgan? Happy?”

“Because I need your help.”

“You… need my help?”

“Yeah,” Tony sighs, looking his kid in the eyes.

“But it’s not you,” Peter says, still unbelieving. Something’s wrong. Tony frowns.

“What do I have to do to convince you it’s really me?” Tony asks, and Peter just shrugs. He’s spent so many months pushing the emotion down, not wanting to face it. It felt like he’d lost Tony in the blink of an eye, and he’d spent so long convincing himself that Tony was  _ really dead _ , and now he can’t believe that he’s  _ really alive _ .

“You can’t,” Peter says, and his voice breaks. Tony’s face falls, and he pulls Peter into a hug, letting the kid burrow into his chest as he trembles. Tony rubs his back in small circles, his other hand stroking Peter’s hair. Peter sinks into the embrace, letting himself pretend it’s real, just for a moment. But he never makes himself break the moment. He just stays in Tony’s real, living arms for as long as he can, afraid that if he lets go, he’ll never get it back.

“How about this…” Tony starts, and Peter can feel the vibrations of Tony’s voice in his chest. “Come back here tomorrow night. Same time, same place. That’ll give you some time to get your head wrapped around this, and you’ll know you’re not dreaming.”

Peter nods into him, squeezing him a little tighter at the thought of leaving. Tony disentangles himself from the teenager and looks him over, giving a small smile. “Okay, Parker. Just remember not to tell anyone, okay? Not even your best friends. Especially not Shield. Or Pepper.”

“Okay,” Peter nods, and they just look at each other for a moment.

“Come on now, go get some sleep,” Tony shoos him towards the fire escape, and Peter backs towards it. “I know you’re tired.”

Peter glances back at him several times, but he does climb down the fire escape, slipping back to his room and closing the window. There’s something about locking the window that makes his heart skip a beat, but he pushes it away, stripping his suit off and collapsing into bed.

* * *

“Peter,” A voice says, causing Peter to look up from the panel he’d been staring at in this museum.

“What?”

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Michelle asks. Peter stares at her, dumbfounded for a second. She’d been speaking to him? How did he not notice? Sure, he was thinking about… y’know… but he should’ve still been aware…

“Yeah, of course,” Peter says quickly.

“Uh-huh. What did I say?” Michelle challenges. Peter pales.

“Uh…”

“That’s what I thought. Talk to me when you come back to Earth,” Michelle huffs, walking away from him. Peter desperately tries to salvage the situation.

“Wait! I was reading the info panel thingy because…” His voice trails off, as Michelle is already gone. He sighs and goes to find Ned. He’s not too far away, messing with some sort of interactive exhibit involving old computers.

“Agh, Ned, I totally screwed up,” Peter groans. “I think I pissed MJ off. Not a good look since… y’know…” Ned smirks a bit at Peter’s reluctance to admit his crush.

“What did you do?”

“She was talking to me, and I wasn’t listening,” Peter admits. Ned cringes.

“Oof. Betty hates that,” Ned references his own girlfriend. Peter runs a hand through his hair. He’s exhausted, and it’s only 11am local time. Ned eyes him. “You do seem a bit more distant today. Are you doing alright?”

“Yeah, totally,” Peter nods.

“Is it about what happened last night?”

“What?” Peter looks up in alarm. He didn’t say anything about Mr.Stark to- oh. He did mention some of the stuff with Shield and the multiverse. “Oh, a little. Maybe.” In reality, Mr.Stark has been on his mind all day, and the day just can’t seem to pass fast enough. Peter wants it to be 3am again. He wants to see if Mr.Stark will be on the roof again. The idea still feels fake, but Peter’s trying to think of ways that it could be real. He’s had these kinds of dreams before, but last night… Peter felt like it was  _ actually _ happening.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Ned asks. Peter shakes his head, getting lost in his own thoughts again and wandering off. Ned raises his eyebrows and wanders after him. “Dude?”

Peter stops walking. He can’t tell Ned. Man, he really hates secrets. He forgot how annoying keeping secrets from Ned was. “Okay, you know all those movies where the people die and then they’re like  _ ‘bam, i’m still alive!’ _ ?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Yeah,” Peter nods his head. “Do you think that can happen in real life?”

“Um, I guess so,” Ned looks confused. “I suppose anything’s possible, especially with the infinity glove or whatever, but like… why are you asking?”

“Oh. No reason,” Peter hums. Ned is right. The infinity gauntlet. Tony had it, and with that much power, you could probably heal yourself, right? Maybe he just has a metal arm like Mr.Barnes- although his arm looked pretty normal last night. But tech keeps evolving, so Tony could easily make a prosthetic for himself.

“You sure?” Ned asks. Peter just nods and moves away from Ned before he spews any secrets out. People can always come back. That’s like rule number 1 in superhero movies. No one stays dead, so Tony must count, right? He is Iron Man, isn’t he?

* * *

Peter sits in his chair, leg bouncing up and down anxiously as Fury and Ms.Hill speak to him and Beck about the competing theories for interdimensional travel. They’re working on a device to get Beck back to his universe, but some creatures called the Elementals from Beck’s universe followed him here, and they need to take those down to send them back with him. That’s why they want Peter. They need his help for that.

Peter tells himself that if they see him as just the muscle, that’s good. It means maybe they’ll leave him alone once some of the big-timers come back into play. He’s just barely starting to work his way around as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man again; being an Avenger is nowhere on his radar, even if he technically is an Avenger. Working with Nick Fury is an entirely different level altogether. 

“Parker,” Fury says, and Peter looks up at him.

“What?”

“I’m just checking that you’re paying attention.”

“I am,” Peter says, hiding a scowl. Yeah, he’s been absent-minded today, but he knows this is important, and he hasn’t caught every word, but he gets the gist. He checks the clock on the wall. It’s already 1am. Two hours until he’s supposed to meet Tony. Peter’s pretty much been convincing himself all day that this is possible, and he just needs to see Tony again to confirm it. He needs to find some sort of way out of here. “It’s just getting late.”

“You’re tired?” Maria asks, and there’s some judgment in her tone. Peter doesn’t hide his annoyance this time.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night. Not after you guys tranqued my best friend and blackmailed me out of my hotel,” Peter snaps.

“You were the one who went out on patrol afterwards,” Fury points out, and Peter gives Beck a hard look. Of course the man told on him. Beck frowns back at Peter and tries to apologize by helping.

“He does have a point,” Beck says quietly. “We’re just working this mission, but Peter still has to keep up his secret identity. Didn’t you run around the city all day today?”

“Yeah,” Peter confirms. “We went to two museums and walked through the farmer’s market and some of the gardens. We only took breaks for meals.” Fury rolls his single eye and switches their monitor to a different view.

“You’re 16. Don’t lie to me and say teenagers don’t pride themselves on being able to operate without sleep,” Fury pushes. “Stick with us for another bit here.”

Peter crosses his arms, but he doesn’t snap back with anything. Beck carefully rests his arm on the back of Peter’s chair and rubs his shoulder comfortingly. The touch takes the teenager off guard, and he swivels his head to look at the man, who quickly pulls his hand away. Peter shakes it off as Fury resumes talking, transitioning into  _ yet another _ contingency plan for if one of the Elementals shows up before they figure out how to track them.

By the time 2am rolls around, Peter’s really starting to lose focus. Yeah, maybe exhaustion wasn’t his main reason for wanting to get out of here, but he really  _ was _ sleep deprived. It’s also going to take him probably half an hour to get back to the hotel, as Fury had dragged Peter out to the edge of the city for “security” that no one would be able to spy on them. He needs to get out of here sooner than later if he wants to check for Tony. Which he does. Badly. When Fury finally stops talking for a moment, Peter cuts in.

“Okay, I really need to get going now,” Peter says, making sure to throw some firmness into his voice.

“We’re not done yet,” Fury rejects his subtle request to leave. Peter clenches his hands into fists.

“We’ve been through at least 50 scenarios, and there are still dozens of variables that could make all of these contingency plans irrelevant,” Peter argues.

“That’s why we go through so many,” Fury rebuts dryly.

“Look, I already tried to fight the water guy in Venice, and he would’ve killed me if Mr.Beck didn’t show up. Whatever we do, I’m going to be winging it anyway. I can’t think on my feet if I’m so tired I can barely stand,” Peter reasons. Fury stares him down, and yeah, Peter does feel a bit intimidated, but Tony used to give him hard glares too, and he learned how to withstand those. He pushes himself to his feet. “This is the second night in a row that you’ve pulled me from my friends on a mission I don’t even want to participate in, so unless you’re holding me captive, I’m going to go now.”

“Parker! Sit down,” Fury orders. Peter feels his irritability rising.

“No. Make me,” He challenges. He needs to go. He needs to meet Tony. He needs to see that all his theories are right. He’ll fight Fury, if he has to.

“Okay, okay,” Beck gets up too, trying to diffuse the situation. “Look, we’re  _ all _ tired here, and Peter’s right. He agreed to be here, so it’s on his own terms. He’s listened to us relatively patiently for the last three hours, and he’s still a kid living a double life, so he does need to get some rest.” Peter wants to protest being called a kid again, but Beck is defending him right now, so he bites his tongue. Beck puts a hand on his shoulder again. “How about we call it a night, and we can pick this up tomorrow?”

Fury sets his jaw as he takes in the two ‘heroes’ in front of him. Maria actually steps forward to break the tension. “I think that’s fair,” She says quietly, and when Fury gives her a look, she adds on. “He’s not a Shield agent, Nick. He hasn’t been through all the same training.”

“Great,” Beck says, taking the decision before Fury makes them stay longer. He looks down at Peter. “Are you still staying at the same hotel? I can take you back if you want.”

“No, it’s okay. Thanks, though,” Peter shifts to get Beck’s hand off of his shoulder, and he grabs his mask. “I’m probably going to swing back. It’ll be faster.”

“Okay. Text me if you need anything,” Beck says, and he hands Peter a slip of paper with a number written on it. “See you soon, Pete.”

* * *

Peter gets back to the hotel at 2:38, and he jumps into the shower to make the time pass faster. Ned rolls over in bed at the sound of Peter looking through his luggage for civvies afterward.

“Dude, do you know what time it is?” Ned groans.

“Yeah. It’s 2:50am,” Peter says quietly. “Sorry I woke you up. I’m just going to get some air. I’ll be back.”

“Now? Aren’t you tired?” Ned asks. Peter makes out his face in the dark.

“I can’t sleep,” Peter says, and he knows his friend will accept the answer. He’s already woken Ned up twice on this trip because of nightmares, and as guilty as he feels about that, it does give him a valid excuse.

“At least try?” Ned pushes. “I’m a bit worried about you, man.”

“I know,” Peter sighs. “But I’m okay. I’m going to go onto the roof for a bit, but then I’ll come in and try to sleep, deal?”

“Fine,” Ned agrees reluctantly, and he bundles the covers tighter around him. Peter closes his eyes for a brief moment before pulling out a sweatshirt and slipping it on. Please,  _ please _ let this be true. He climbs out the window and to the roof, holding his breath.

He’s there. Tony’s there, waiting for him. He’s alive, and Peter doesn’t know how, goddamnit, but he’s  _ here _ . When the man smiles, Peter grins even wider, and he throws himself at the billionaire with a hug, squeezing tightly.

“Whoa there. Don’t break me, Parker,” Tony warns, but there’s some amusement in his voice. Regardless, h e wraps his arms around the teenager, and he rubs his back. Peter peels himself away to look at Tony again.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Peter whispers, and Tony nods.

“I know,” Tony says quietly. Peter looks into his eyes.

“I just… you should’ve told me earlier,” Peter says. “I- I missed you.” He can’t fathom why Tony didn’t tell him, he really can’t, but he just… he doesn’t want to mess this up. He’s going to protect Tony. Whatever it takes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was-”

“Healing?” Peter asks, cutting in with his own theories that quickly dissolve into a ramble. “Sorry, I don’t mean to cut you off, but I’ve been thinking about this all day. I thought about the stones and how that one is supposed to work for life or whatever, and then you could also use the time stone, but even without the gauntlet, I remember Dr.Cho has that cradle thing, so maybe you used that? Or is your arm a prosthetic like Bucky? Did you have to like switch bodies so they buried the wrong one? Although I guess we really did more of a memorial than a burial, but Pepper never said anything about what they did with you, but then wouldn’t she know you’re alive? Why don’t you want her to know? Does she already know and you just don’t want us to risk talking about it? I’ve been spending time with Morgan. I promise I’m taking care of her, Mr.Stark. Or- wait, are you from another universe? No, no, that doesn’t make sense. Because then you wouldn’t know me. Mr.Beck said I don’t exist in his universe, so that would be weird and I-”

“Parker… slow down,” Tony interrupts, setting firm hands on the teenager’s shoulders. Peter bites his lip and tries to tune out his sprinting brain. “I’ll explain everything, but in due time, capiche?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Peter stutters out. He grabs Tony’s right hand in his, feeling it. It seems like flesh and blood… like normal skin. Tony carefully pulls his hand away at the weird massaging, grabbing a folder that was sitting on the roof behind him.

“Like I said, Parker, I need your help. You ready to get to work?” 


	3. A Touch of The Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gives Peter his first task, but Peter starts to see how difficult juggling his identities is going to be.

As Tony moves the folder that was on the air conditioning unit, Peter sees the StarkPad underneath it. Of course. Tony doesn’t ever go paper-only. In fact, Peter remembered there being an initiative while he was an intern for the company to go paper _ less _ . Tony flourishes the file folder, sitting down on the unit. Peter practically scampers to sit next to him, looking down at the paper. There are some grainy photos there that have obviously been enhanced to some extent with tech, but not enough.

“What do you need, Mr.Stark?” Peter asks, trying to make out what it is. “What’s that?”

“This is some surveillance I did, Peter. What does it look like to you?” Tony asks, passing him a photo.

“Umm… it looks sort of like a weapon? Like one of those weird alien ones the Vulture made, remember?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tony says. He opens up the StarkPad and types in a code to unlock it. He goes into a file. “Remember back in 2008 when I first became Iron Man? I tried to steer Stark Industries away from weapon design, but there was some resistance to my decision. Since my death, it  _ appears _ that they’re back at it.”

“Really? But Pepper wouldn’t let that happen..,” Peter frowns. “Have you told her about-”

“No! Parker, I told you that she doesn’t know I’m alive. And you’re  _ not _ going to tell her, am I clear?” He’s staring Peter down so intently that Peter almost moves back. He would’ve if not for so many months wishing he could get closer to the man.

“Okay… okay..,” Peter holds his hands up defensively. Tony relaxes and turns back to the tablet.

“It’s not a United States branch anyway. It appears to be the Prague branch. Whoever it is must’ve thought that by keeping it out of the country, we wouldn’t find out.”

“So what do you want from me?” Peter asks.

“I want the gun.”

“What? Why? If you’re not fighting..,” Peter trails off. Tony looks him over for a second, as if he were confused, too.

“It’s sending a message. If you steal the gun, maybe they’ll stop. Copy the blueprints, too. If they think the weapons are out there, maybe they’ll reconsider the dangers of it.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Peter says slowly. “But I don’t really want to steal…”

“It’s not stealing if I’m taking stuff from my own company, Peter. You’re just doing it for me. You can get in and out unseen, can’t you?” Tony says. Peter shrugs.

“Maybe…”

“Peter, come on. I need you to do this for me. You want to honor my legacy, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Peter blushes. Tony nods.

“Attaboy. Now, I got my hands on some blueprints,” Tony starts. He flips onto a new file and shows the tablet to Peter, walking him through the basics of the facility’s layout. After a few minutes, he notices Peter leaning into his side heavily. “What are you doing?”

“Oh! Sorry. Just… I can hold it,” Peter explains. He shifts, and a moment later, Peter’s changed their position. Whereas before Tony was holding the tablet with both hands and tilting the screen toward Peter, Peter’s now moved them into one of their old work/cuddle positions. Peter’s holding up the StarkPad in his left hand, and his right arm is tucked comfortably between them. Meanwhile, Tony’s left arm is now slung across the boy’s shoulders, and his right hand is free to operate the StarkPad as he wishes. Tony looks down at Peter and rubs his shoulder after a moment

“Don’t worry. I’m still listening,” Peter assures, even as he snuggles into his mentor. Peter wiggles the StarkPad for Mr.Stark to continue. So he does. Tony explains possible plans to his old protege as he flips through facility blueprints. He reaches into his coat pocket with his right hand and pulls out a black flash drive.

“One more thing. This flash drive will let you get the file. Just plug it in, and it’ll do all the work for you, okay? It’s programmed with my personal code,” He passes it to Peter. It has some solid weight to it, but it’s still light enough and small enough that Peter can put it into his suit for safe carriage.

“You got it?” Tony asks, looking him over.

“Yeah, I got it, Mr.Stark,” Peter says. ”I’ll figure it out, promise sir.” Tony ruffles his hair and gets up quicker than Peter would like. The teenager jumps to his feet. “You’re leaving? I still have a lot of questions. Like how did you-”

“It’s not safe to be out here. I’ll be in touch,” Tony promises. “Now come on, kid. Go get some sleep.”

Peter backs away reluctantly, but he comes back for one more hug. Tony hugs him back but then shoos him back toward the fire escape.

“Go, Peter. I’ll explain everything eventually,” Tony says. Peter frowns. Everything has always been on Mr.Stark’s terms. He mumbles a ‘yes, sir’ and goes back to his room.

* * *

“Peter, c’mon. We gotta get up,” Ned nudges Peter again, but he just rolls over in bed. Ned sighs. “I told you not to go out again. Did you at least sleep through the night?”

“Yeah, I did, actually,” Peter mumbles. He groans and reaches for his phone on the side table. He’s got five missed phone calls from an unknown number. Oh crap. Almost as he thinks it, there’s a knock on the door.

“Servizio in camera!” A deep voice booms. Peter recognizes that voice and buries his face into the pillow.

“Un minuto,” Ned replies automatically, heading for the door. Peter sits up.

“Ned, wait-” Peter holds a hand out to stop his friend, but it’s too late. As soon as Ned has turned the handle, Fury is pushing the door the rest of the way open, muscling his way into the room. Ned looks agape, pointing at the man after he walks past and mouthing ‘Nick Fury?!’

“Parker, what did I tell you about checking your damn phone?” Fury snaps. Peter’s wide awake now, a hand going out to the side as he looks for an excuse.

“I- What, am I supposed to not sleep?” Peter asks. Fury rolls his single eye and throws something either at or for Peter- no one knows for sure, but the spider catches it on reflex. It’s another phone of some sort.

“If you can’t run on three hours of sleep, are you even a vigilante?” Fury demands. “How do you swing around Queens  _ and _ get A’s?”

“How do you know what my grades are? Have you- you know what? Nevermind. What is this?” Peter swerves the subject to the device in his hand.

“It’s a pager. We can use it to reach you in an emergency and vice versa. You’re both heading to Prague today, and your itinerary has you in several high-profile tourist areas. I want you to hit it immediately if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

“Fine. Anything else?”

“Yeah, actually. I was gonna give these to you in  _ private _ , but  _ someone _ didn’t wake up early enough,” Fury moves closer to Peter’s bed and hands him a glasses case. “Tony said you might need these.”

Peter furrows his brow. Did Tony tell Fury about- “oh, and Parker? Your hair looks like a rat’s nest. Fix it,” Fury chastises. Peter rolls his eyes and falls back against the pillows as Fury stalks away.

“I literally just woke up,” Peter mumbles.

“At least he didn’t tranq me this time..,” Ned offers.

Peter rolls out of bed, getting his stuff together. He’d left his new black suit haphazardly on the ground, so he hastily shoved it into his backpack with the glasses case. He’ll deal with it later. They’re going to be late. Ned gets the doors, and Peter pulls their suitcases to the bus. They’re going to be on the bus for most of the day, but they’re going to stop in Salzburg to tour a salt mine. Peter really hopes there isn’t a salt elemental. He knows there’s an earth one, but that can take any form, can’t it?

They settle into the bus, and Peter pulls the glasses case out of his bag once they’re out of the city. He flips it open.

Oh…

Tony’s glasses.

Peter carefully runs his fingers around the frame. He remembers Tony wearing these. He’d developed them shortly before Thanos showed up. And apparently, he’d left them to Peter.

Peter swallows the lump in his throat and tenderly pulls the glasses out of their case. He spreads the temples apart and presses the soft nose pads to the bridge of his nose. Immediately, a soft blue light comes over the lenses, much like the way Karen adjusts his vision. The filter is even dulling Peter’s senses in case he gets strained and overwhelmed by his powers like he used to. Peter gives a small smile.

“Hello, Peter. What you like to see what I can do?” An artificial voice says.

“Whoa,” Peter gets a geeky grin. “Sure.” Little boxes pop up all across his vision, giving him profiles of everyone on the bus as well as summaries on what they’re doing. Ned and Betty are texting each other, and Peter quickly looks away, not wanting to disrupt their privacy.

“Hey, Peter. New glasses?” Michelle asks, looking at him from over the back of her seat. Peter feels his face heat up, and he quickly pulls them off.

“Uh, yeah. Just… y’know… there’s a lot of… sun on this trip,” Peter stammers. Michelle raises an eyebrow, and Peter playfully puts them back on, tilting his head down and raising his eyes to look up at her dramatically. She gives something between a laugh and a scoff.

“Cool,” She sits back down in her seat, curling against the window with her book. ‘Prague in Black and Gold: History of a City,’ Tony’s- or Peter’s- AI supplies for him. Peter’s not even surprised. He knows Michelle loves knowing about the places they’re going. He’ll have to ask her some questions about it later- to show interest in what she likes. In the meantime, he’s going to play with these glasses.


	4. First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider-Man reclaims the first piece of Stark Tech, but Peter struggles with the whole "keeping everything a secret" thing.

“I have a quick thing I gotta do for Fury,” Peter explains to Ned once they’ve unpacked in their hotel room. Luckily, Salzburg and the rest of the drive was relatively uneventful. Well, at least in terms of elementals. Betty had complimented his glasses, and Michelle sat by him on the train ride through the mines. So that was nice.

“Now? Here?” Ned asks, watching as Peter pulls out the new suit, black and indiscrete. No one should recognize him.

“Yeah.”

“Doing what?”

“It’s… classified, Ned. Can’t tell you about it. Just trust me, okay?” Peter assures. He tosses his shirt into his open suitcase and steps out of his shorts to change into his stealth suit.

“Okay. Well, be careful. Need any help from the guy in the chair? I know you don’t know the city well,” Ned offers.

“I got it, Ned. I’ll be back soon.”

* * *

Peter perches on top of one building, looking at another. He’s in Pankrác, the tech and industrial part of the city, where the Stark Industries building stands just a little taller than the rest of the buildings. Classic Tony, Peter thinks, although he can see a taller building being built a few blocks down. This part of the city looks a lot more modern than the medieval part where the school is hanging out, which he supposes makes sense because cities can’t live in their past forever. He refocuses on his target. The whole building is a glass complex, so he’ll have to jump and climb up part of it to reach the entrance to ventilation. He just hopes there’s no one in the penthouse.

He’s about halfway up the part he needs to climb when he feels his spider-sense tingle, and there’s someone moving around in the office he’s outside. All Peter has to do is crawl left a little bit and he’s in the clear. A few minutes later, he’s on the roof. The vents are unguarded, as they normally are. It’s not worth the money to secure vents. He’s pretty sure Wilson Fisk is the only person on the planet who has bothered to put motion sensors in his vent system. He has to go down, left, right, left, left, straight, left, straight again, and to the third- he thinks third- grate on the 80th level.

He carefully pries the grate up with his fingers and lowers himself down. There-

The pulsar blaster is set up on a table. It looks a bit big and awkward to carry, but Peter thinks he can handle it. He plugs the flash drive into the nearest computer before going back to the gun.

“Karen, what am I looking at?”

“You’ll have to disable three different security measures meant to deter theft. I looped the surveillance video in this room shortly before you dropped in, but there are two more settings. There’s a weight sensor on the table, as well as clasps that will sound an alarm if disconnected.

“Classic Indiana Jones, huh Karen?” Peter laughs. He pulls the knife kept to cut through webbing out of his suit first. It’s made to cut through high concentrates of his web, which is a lot sharper than about 90% of knives on the planet. He webs the ends of the metal chains down and then cuts the weapon free. Now for the second part.

“Karen, estimated weight?”

“20 pounds,” She reports. Peter nods and looks around the room. There should be some testing weight… that are in kilograms, of course.

“Uh, convert that?”

“9.08 kilograms, Peter.”

“Great,” Peter selects what he thinks should add up to the same weight and packages it up with webbing so he can do it in one fell swoop. He repockets the USB drive and holds the weight package in one hand. He’s gonna try to swipe it like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Carefully…

He slips his hand under the pulsar blaster and hovers his other hand with the weight over the table. He carefully lowers one hand as he lifts the other. Careful… careful…

An alarm startles Peter, causing him to drop the science weights onto the table with a loud clang. He can hear the shrill ring of the alarm, and it’s probably supposed to be silent, but with his super hearing, it rings around his head like a church bell. Crap. Peter grabs the blaster under his arm and leaves stuff on the table. Does it need more weight? Less? He throws a couple of wrenches onto the table, seeing if he was under the weight. Maybe he didn’t account for the chains? The whining stops, and Peter  _ thinks _ he’s good to go. Either way, he’s not sticking around to find out.

He’s in and out of the vents and off of the building’s roof in a matter of minutes. No one’s following him as far as he can tell, so he takes only a slightly indirect route back to the hotel. Just enough to lose an amateur follower, rather than a professional. He swings onto the side of the hotel and rolls himself through the window, clutching the pulsar gun to his chest in relief.

“Peter?” A voice calls from the bathroom. The shower is running. Crap. Peter scrambles to hide the gun under his bed as he hears the water stop. He shoves the gun under his bed, draping his sheets down and kicking his backpack in front of it to hide any suspicion Ned may have as he comes out of the bathroom in his boxers and a towel.

“Yeah, man. It’s me,” Peter says casually, even though he’s still trying to catch his breath from how fast he swung back.

“Okay, cool. Just checking,” Ned goes back into the bathroom, and Peter collapses on his bed. That didn’t go as well as he expected it to go but… he thinks it’s okay. Mr.Stark should be proud.

* * *

Peter wakes up from his nap to the sound of knocking at the door. He sighs. “Ned?”

“I got it. Take off your suit,” Ned reminds, and Peter realizes he’d fallen asleep in the same position and outfit he’d flopped down in. He grabs some clothes and moves out of sight of the door to change.

“Hey nerds. I wanted to see what you were up to,” Michelle’s voice says from the doorway.

“Just hanging out, really,” Ned answers. They had some free time built into their schedule, letting them explore Prague on their own. The touristy part of town they were in should be safe enough for them to wander around, but there is a rule about not going places alone.

“Hmm. That’s lame,” Michelle answers, and Peter rounds the corner to see her leaned up against the doorframe with her arms crossed. She’s wearing a dark jacket that complements her hair really well. Peter wants to tell her, but the words catch in his throat, and nothing comes out. Ned just shrugs.

“We can go out and do something if you want,” Peter offers once his tongue untangles itself. “Go for a walk, maybe?”

“We could. I like the architecture around here. It’s cool,” Michelle agrees.

“I haven’t really looked,” Peter says, and it’s true. He was too busy worrying about getting the mission done on his way to Pankrác and about being followed on his way back that he hadn’t really looked around him more than he needed to to navigate and swing. Ned glances between his two friends.

“You two go. I’m gonna hang out here. I’ll see if Betty wants to do something,” Ned says. As he walks back towards his bed, he shoots Peter a wink, and the two of them do their handshake.

“Okay, th- that’s fine,” Peter catches himself before he says ‘thanks’, because that would be weird. Michelle always picks up on that weird stuff, and she does give him a bit of a look, but she doesn’t seem to suspect that Peter is grateful to Ned for giving him some alone time with her. He takes a calming breath to keep his heart rate down as Michelle explains to their teacher where they’re going and that they’ll check in when they get back, as those are the rules.

“Have fun, you two,” Mr.Harrington says. “Make sure to be back by midnight, and Peter, I mean that. Don’t sneak off again.”

“I promise, Mr.Harington

“Yeah. I’ll keep him in line,” Michelle smirks, and Mr.Harrington seems to accept it.

The crowd in the city is in a time of transition. Younger tourists and families seem to be headed back to hotels and back from dinners while the older ones are drifting in a steady stream towards the bars and pubs around. However, it still feels safe in the well-lit streets, something that Peter feels is short supply these days. A slight chill moves down the street with the breeze, and Peter’s hyper-aware of the way that Michelle closers her jacket a little more and scoots closer to him. At least he thinks she does. The cold doesn’t really bother him- a side effect of his arachnid DNA, so he could offer her his sweater if she seems to be shivering later. He’ll hear it if she is. However, that might seem like some desperate move to be like a boyfriend or something, and Peter still hasn’t talked to her about… that.

Michelle’s chattering about city history- something that Peter has found she has a knack for- and he hangs on to every word she says. There’s something different about the way it comes out of her mouth as compared to a tour guide. He’s more interested… intrigued. Her eyes even light up a bit when they get to an area where she knows a bit about rebellion and progression of human rights, and Peter recognizes it as a sort of altruism, her passion for it. Kinda like how he fights crime. He admires how dedicated she is to her causes- how deeply she researches and stands behind her beliefs. He smiles, and she raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Peter says quickly, averting his eyes. He’s now wishing the street wasn’t so visible. He prays she can’t see the blush on his face, or at least that the warm light conceals it to some extent.

“Okay,” Michelle says skeptically, and they walk along for a bit. Michelle doesn’t say anything, giving Peter a chance, inviting him to speak. A boat is passing by in the quiet waters, and Peter can pick up subtle hints of laughter and chatter from the boat. They stop to watch it cross under them and progress further down the lake.

“MJ,” Peter says suddenly, and she looks at him expectantly. What she expects, he doesn’t know. He never knows, really. But this is probably going to be his only chance to talk to her without Flash hanging around or Tony or Shield listening in for a long time, and he can’t afford to waste it. “I need to tell you something. I-”

“-am Spider-Man?” Michelle guesses, and Peter feels like the wind has been knocked out of him.

“What? No!” It’s not what he was planning to tell her. True, he is Spider-Man, and he was probably gonna tell her about that eventually, but that’s not what he’s trying to say now. Oh no… He’s messed up. Royally. He wanted to say… he wanted to say how pretty she looked, and how much he likes her, but neither of them know what to do with the silence, so Michelle tries to cover it up quickly.

“I’ve been watching you for a while now.”

“I’m not Spider-Man,” Peter denies.

“What about the other day, when you fought that thing in Venice? I mean, it’s kinda obvious,” Michelle says. She brushes a stray hair behind her ear and looks back at the boat, now a small being in the distance.

“I-” Peter doesn’t know what to say. He’s stuck. He doesn’t know how to salvage the situation. Aw no. “Sorry.”

“For?” Michelle prods

“Uh… I dunno,” Peter blushes. Michelle smirks.

“So I’m right then?”

“Uh… yeah… surprise!” Peter cheers half-heartedly.

“And that’s what you wanted to talk to me about?” Michelle turns back to him, resting her arm on the rail of the bridge. She squints at him.

“Yup,” Peter lies. “You got it.”

He’s rescued from more embarrassment by a text on his phone. ‘Leave it on the roof under some sheets and get some sleep. I’ll get it sometime tonight, but you need sleep, kid.’

It’s from an unknown number, so Peter assumes Tony. It’s a good excuse. “It’s getting late. I don’t want Mr.Harrington to worry.”

In the morning, the pulsar blaster is gone from the roof, and Ned is waiting when he gets back inside. “Ready for another day of vacay?”

“Of course,” Peter smiles. Tony is still alive and out there. And he texted Peter with a thank you. He grabs his backpack with his suit inside and pats Ned’s back. He’s ready for a day off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up that based on recent trailers and tv spots, I'm definitely already canon-divergent, but oh well. I'm doing my best here.


	5. The City of a Hundred Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a hot day in Prague, Spider-Man and Mysterio fight together for the first time, taking on an elemental. However, some of their strategies don't exactly go as planned.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Peter asks as a wailing sound reaches his ears.

“What?” Ned asks, setting down the trinket he’s holding. Peter looks down the road. The sound is really faint, so he probably  _ is _ the only one here who can hear it. They’re in Havel’s Market, where they’ve been given an hour to wander around the stalls of the historic market and find themselves some lunch. The sound is weaving in with the sounds of merchants, tourists, locals, musicians, and traffic, so it could just be his imagination, but Peter’s spider senses are tingling a bit. They’ve been fine for most of the morning… The class had visited Prague Castle without incident, and Peter had gotten a bit nervous about the water elemental when they crossed over Charles Bridge, but so far, nothing had happened. Nothing had unsettled him until now. Peter runs his finger across the pager Fury gave him in his pocket.

Peter taps Ned to let him know he’s moving away, but he doesn’t speak, too intent on listening. He moves North toward where he thinks the sound is coming from, and as he gets closer to the edge of the market, the sounds become recognizable as sirens. Peter just hadn’t recognized them because they were different than NYC sirens. There’s smoke rising in the distance. Smoke… There’s a fire elemental somewhere out there. Is that it? Peter’s got his pager out, and he’s about to hit the call button when the device lights up for him. It’s a text message from Fury.

‘We’re investigating. Stay with your class until we figure out if it’s a threat or not.’ The message reads. Peter frowns, but he doesn’t have much time to dwell on it, as Ned is grabbing at his arm. Peter hadn’t even realized his friend had caught up.

“Peter. Mr.Harrington said there are some fires around Old Town. He wants to get everyone together and go south a bit,” Ned explains.

“But I thought we were supposed to go to the town square after this. To see the clock thingy and everything?” Peter protests. Even if he was just told not to look into it, the order was technically to stay with his class, not to stay away from the fires.

“He said we’re going to go to the Lego Museum now instead of tonight, and that we’ll go back toward the square later if they get it all cleaned up,” Ned says. Peter takes a deep breath, turning around against his better judgment.

“Okay. Let’s go see that giant lego Death Star, right?” Peter offers. Ned grins.

They head to the Lego museum, but as they eat dinner, the reports are saying that the fires are still going, despite the best efforts of the fire department. Based on the coordinates of where the fire elemental attacked on Beck’s world, it sounds a whole lot like the fire elemental to Peter, but Fury still hasn’t contacted him, and he’s a bit afraid to reach out on his own. Mr.Harrington catches the class’s attention in the restaurant.

“Hey everyone, uh, fires are still a problem, and as your teacher, it’s my responsibility to keep you guys safe. We’re going to go back to the hotel after this. I don’t want anyone going out tonight. Take an early night, and I’m going to change the schedule so we’ll get up at 6am and go to Old Town Square then, alright?” Mr.Harrington announces. There are a few groans of disappoint and frustration- no one wants to get up at 6am, but no one challenges it. Peter just glances at his pager again. This isn’t looking good.

As soon as they arrive at the hotel, Peter tells MJ, who happened to be next to him (coincidentally? He’s not sure) that he’s going to go up to his room and take a nap. Ned says he wants to drop off their souvenirs from the Lego Museum, so he’ll come with Peter. As soon as they get to the room, Peter drops his bag on the bed, rummaging through it.

“I thought you were taking a nap,” Ned comments, confusion crossing his face.

“What? No. I’m gonna go check this fire thing out,” Peter explains, unfolding his suit. Ned eyes him warily.

“It’s just fires.”

“It’s suspicious, Ned. It doesn’t take this long to put out a fire,” Peter protests. He can’t let these elementals get away. He can’t let everyone down. He’s expected to be responsible now. Peter strips off his shirt and tosses it aside. Ned watches him.

“If you’re going, I”m going to help you. Let me just drop this thing off to Betty. I’m going to leave the door deadbolted,” Ned says, and Peter knows from his tone of voice that Ned’s helping isn’t up for debate.

“Fine. Just be back soon,” Peter says. He’s anxious to get out. If they say he’s taking a nap, no one should notice that he’s gone. He changes into his suit, and he takes a minute to arrange pillows in the shape of a body under the covers, just in case someone checks in on him. He goes back to his bag, feeling around. He needs his mask. Peter finally gets it out, and he grabs his pager and phone, putting them into the pockets on the suit.

“Going somewhere?” A voice asks. Peter startles. Michelle is standing in the doorway to their room, and once their eyes meet, she quickly closes the door. However, she does still leave it deadbolted as it was before, making sure Ned won’t be locked out.

“Uh… no..,” Peter lies. Michelle raises her eyebrows.

“Uh-huh. So what are you wearing?”

“Pajamas. They’re like a onesie. Really uh- really comfortable and soft. Wanna feel?” Peter excuses. Michelle rolls her eyes.

“So let me get this straight. Despite there being too many pillows on your bed to have space for yourself, you changed into pajamas to take a nap, but then you put your shoes back on to sleep,” Michelle calls out. “What kind of weirdo sleeps with shoes on?”

“Fine,” Peter sags in defeat. “You caught me. I gotta go.” He pulls his mask on as Michelle moves closer.

“What, you got some secret mission?” Michelle pushes.

“No. I mean, sorta. MJ-,” Peter starts, but they’re interrupted by the door opening. Again. It’s Ned, looking between them in a state of a shock.

“She knows. I told her,” Peter explains quickly.

“He didn’t tell me. I figured it out,” Michelle corrects, side-eyeing Spider-Man. Peter tries to ignore her, making sure his web shooters are set up right. Ned awkwardly closes the door and grabs his laptop, not sure what to say to MJ. Peter passes Ned a slip of paper with the code to get into his suit’s comms, and Ned starts typing it in.

“You help him?” Michelle asks, so which Ned just nods. She refocuses on Peter. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Peter deflects, popping the lenses down over his eyes to hide them. He opens the window.

“So, you know too. I’ve known first. But it’s not a competition,” Ned says, causing Peter to turn back at him with a questioning body composure. He’s definitely making it sound like one. Peter pushes it out of his head and climbs up on the windowsill.

“Ned, just keep me posted on any news alerts, okay? I’ll let you know if I need anything else,” Peter promises. Michelle steps towards Spider-Man.

“Wait-”

“I’ll explain later. Or Ned will. I dunno. See ya,” Peter jumps out the window before he has to answer any more questions, catching himself on a building a swinging toward Old Town.

* * *

 

When he gets towards the smoke, he can see Mysterio standing on a roof, watching the emergency responders work on it, and he lands next to him. “What’s the sitch?”

“Peter? I thought you were with your school,” Mysterio says, turning to face him. Peter shrugs.

“They think I’m taking a nap. Is this it?” Spider-Man asks. The fires are scattered, not collected like an elemental would be.

“Maybe. Fury says that the fire department here has been putting the fires out, but for every fire they extinguish, another one, or even two, pop up. They’re too busy fighting the fires to figure out what’s staring them,” Beck explains, and Peter appreciates that Beck isn’t trying to send him away.

“Did the fire elemental on your world ever do that?”

“No.., but, as I said, they’re evolving. Their behavior here has been even more complex than it was on my Earth. It could be trying to wear out the first responders… to take all their energy away so it’s unopposed when it comes out for real,” Mysterio answers. Peter nods. That makes enough sense.

“So what’s our move?” Spider-Man asks. Mysterio sighs.

“We have to wait it out. Hill is seeing if she can get that frequency thing we were talking about set up, but unless that draws it out, we’re stuck until it shows itself,” Beck explains. They discussed how the elementals on Mysterio’s Earth were irritated and somewhat stalled by a certain frequency of sound. However, even then it only delayed the inevitable. Additionally, Shield has a theory that each dimension vibrates on a different frequency, so it might not work the same here. It could make the elementals angry though.

After Peter updates Ned to let him know he doesn't need any help, Spider-Man and Mysterio sit on the roof. As the smoke creates a smog around the area, the fires begin to trickle out in number. When the sun goes down, both the fires and the light are getting darker. “Do you think it’s the calm before the storm?” Spider-Man asks.

“Maybe,” Mysterio shrugs. He takes out his phone and scrolls through a few things before holding it to his ear. Peter can hear it ring when he focuses, and he listens to the voice that picks up.

_ ‘Fury.’ _

“Hey Fury, any progress on that thing?”

_ ‘Hill thinks that she’s got it set up. You two can come down to the main square if you want. They think we’re a special ops team the government called in.’ _

“Got it. We’ll be right there,” Beck promises. He hangs up the phone and sighs. “The boss man calls.”

“Sure,” Peter says, hopping down from the roof. He forgets to wait for Mysterio to tell them where they’re meeting though, and he hears the man call after him as he leaves. Whoops. He usually tries not to let on that he can hear everything. When Mysterio catches up to Spider-Man in the square, he avoids his gaze, standing on the other side of Nick Fury. Agent Hill has some sort of metal device on the hood of their SUV, and she’s typing things in on a computer next to it.

“It’s quieted down. If this elemental was waiting to have worn everyone down, now’s when it would probably show up. It could be pulling its fires back in to charge up for a bigger attack,” Beck explains to Fury, who nods.

“We shouldn’t let the fight be on its terms,” Fury decides. “Hill. Start that thing up.” Hill nods, hitting a few final keys.

“You said 180 decibels and 40 kilohertz, right Beck?” Hill confirms. Mysterio nods.

“That should do it. It’ll hurt them, but it should be outside of any human range of hearing,” Beck explains. “Just be ready to fight.” Spider-Man nods, checking that his web-shooters don’t need new fluid. Maria grabs her pistol and hits the start button.

The sound hits like a bomb, and Peter winces, shutting his eyes.  _ Ow! _ They must’ve configured it wrong. Maria will turn it off. Spider-Man acts strong, standing still despite the high-pitched ranging that clangs around his head. What’s taking so long? Peter’s eyes water up under the mask, and when a hand touches his shoulder, it’s too much. He clamps his hands over his ears, but it doesn’t stop the sound. It just persists and persists, and Spider-Man feels himself falling.

Mysterio watches in alarm as Spider-Man collapses under his touch, curling in on himself with his hands clutching his head. Beck is careful not to touch him again, looking to Hill, who’s covering them as she watches for any flames or movement. He knows the kid has some sort of warning sense, so maybe that’s what’s upsetting him. The elemental might be on its way.

“Is it on?” Beck asks, watching the too-quiet square.

“Yeah,” Hill answers. Beck prepares himself to fight, but he suddenly looks down at Spider-Man, realization dawning in his eyes. Peter knew where they were going without having to ask. He must’ve heard the phone conversation.  _ Enhanced hearing _ .

“Shut it off,” Beck says urgently, less afraid to cradle Peter’s head now that he knows what’s wrong. “Now! You’re hurting him.”

Hill rushes to pull the plug, and Peter actually cries out in relief when it turns off. He knows it’s stopped, but he can still hear the ringing in his ears, and his head throbs. He waves Beck’s hand away when the man tries to touch his head, and the ringing intertwines with a growing vibration of Spider-sense. Spider-Man groans. He could really use a break. He rolls onto his side, getting his hands and knees.

“Hey, hey. Take 5, Parker,” Mysterio’s voice cuts in, but Spider-Man makes a cutting off motion with his hand. His head is still spinning too much to get up, but he should be okay soon. He has to be.

“It’s coming,” Spider-Man explains, and shortly after, fire seems to rise from the ground, turning the cobblestone of the square molten, pulling the matter into its own flaming form. Mysterio frowns.

“Well, we drew it out, but we can’t use that thing again,” Mysterio says. The fire elemental looks in their direction.

“Mother-” Fury starts to swear, scattering away from the car. Mysterio grabs Spider-Man around the waist, lifting the stunned superhero off the ground as the elemental targets a giant fireball at the source of the sound: the car. The SUV’s tank ignites, creating an explosion that sends both heroes flying. Mysterio loses his grip on Spider-Man, and they both hit the ground several feet away. Peter groans again. That didn’t help his head at all.

“I’ll keep him off you,” Mysterio says urgently, tapping Spider-Man on the back. The kid will get into the fight when he’s ready. Mysterio catches the next fireball with a green shield, deflecting it back toward the elemental. It hits it, but the fireball doesn’t seem to do much damage. It just pisses the elemental off. Mysterio flies to the side, choosing a different side of the square for battle, away from where Spider-Man is still trying to get his bearings back.

Mysterio dodges another fireball, allowing it to hit the building behind him. He catches a piece of flaming rubble and hurls it at a fire hydrant, splashing the elemental with cold water. The elemental roars in fury, hurling a flame ball at the fire hydrant. The hydrant only breaks, sending the water upwards and creating a mist around the square. Mysterio hits it with a green blast, doing some minor damage. It turns on him, a large, flaming hand grabbing him around the torso and shoving him into a building. Beck grunts as the flames lick at his suit, catching his cape on fire.

A web hits the elemental in the head, and Spider-Man swings in from left field, kicking the elemental’s wrist so that it drops Mysterio. Mysterio’s suit stalls, but Beck gets it online before he hits the ground, moving back up into the air. He rips his own cape off, tossing the fiery fabric away from him. The fire elemental has turned its focus to Spider-Man, and it roars again, sending a dragon-like stream of fire toward him. Peter webs himself to the side, out of the deadly path. When he looks up, the elemental has created a ring of fire around it, as if it’ll stop the web-slinger from getting any closer.

Spider-Man jumps onto the wall and then propels himself off of it, over the ring of fire. He lands inside by the creature’s feet, but he feels a pain on his calf. He pats a bit of fire that had caught him out. Not good. The creature tries to stomp on Spider-Man, but he rolls out of the way, noting that the creature’s foot seems like some sort of reformed, molten rock. Probably not good to touch. However, its face is higher up, so Spider-Man aims two webs at its temples and slingshots himself up into the air, punching the elemental in the face.

He feels his spider-sense go off, and he tries to move away, but the flaming hand punches him off of the creature’s face. Spider-Man’s stunned by the hit, and he hits the ground, cheek-first. After tumbling and sliding to a stop, Peter gets to his knees and touches his cheek. There’s blood on his glove. That’s not going to be easy to hide from his classmates. Mysterio takes back over, hitting it with another energy blast to the face.

“What’s the plan?” Spider-Man asks, webbing its eyes like he once did with Thanos. The flames burn right through his webbing.

“Stop it,” Mysterio answers simply.

“Oh. Sounds thorough,” Peter jokes dryly, but he supposes Beck is right. Part of the reason the elementals destroyed Beck’s world is that they never figured out how to fight them. That wouldn’t magically change now. Spider-Man swings in again, kicking it in the head and using the force of the collision to rebound off and out of range. “Y’know, maybe we should see if we can get the water dude to fight this guy. Fight fire with fire, get it?!”

“We tried that. Didn’t work,” Mysterio shoots down. Spider-Man frowns. He thought it was a decent idea. Instead, Mysterio and Spider-Man work together, hitting it from two sides so it isn’t sure which way to swing. Spider-Man’s bouncing around the square, using buildings as springboards to land melee attacks, and Mysterio is hovering above the skyline, shooting energy blasts as a distraction. It seems to be slowing the monster down a bit, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping it. As the fight goes on, the fire elemental seems to understand what’s happening, and soon, three of the four sides of the square have some part of them flickering with fire. It’s narrowing down Peter’s room to move. Spider-Man lands on the side of the church, looking around the square. This is destroying so much history. They’ll be able to rebuild it, but still.

“Spider-Man, look out!” Mysterio warns, and Peter looks up. There’s fire coming for him, but there’s also fire on either side of him. The only way to go is up. Spider-Man crawls and then sprints up the church tower, leaping off it backward, much like that time at the Washington Monument. He catches himself with another web attached to the elemental’s head, setting him up to swing in and land a blow onto its back. However, the flames on its head burn through his rope, snapping it and breaking his momentum. Spider-Man hits the ground unexpectedly, and before he can move out of the way, he’s hit by a blast of fire. Peter gasps and rolls over, trying to extinguish his suit. Unlike Mysterio, his is more fabric than metal, and therefore much more flammable. Mysterio covers him, charging up a gigantic blow that hits the creature’s leg, tearing through it. With one leg missing, the creature’s balance is gone, and it wobbles precariously.

Spider-Man can feel cold air hitting the burns on his skin when he gets back up, and he has to scramble back to avoid the now-falling elemental. Its arm and torso hit the ground near Spider-Man, trapping him with fire and causing him to fall onto his butt. However, the fire whisks away in the breeze, the creature melts into the ground. Within seconds, it’s gone. Spider-Man looks around warily.

“Did we- did we kill it?” Spider-Man asks, reloading his web fluid just in case.

“No,” Mysterio lands in front of Spider-Man, helmet dematerializing. He grabs Peter’s hand, helping him to his feet. “It’ll be back.”

“Thanks,” Spider-Man says, in reference to being helped up. “So, did we hurt it at least?”

“No,” Beck sighs. “I don’t think so. Sometimes they just go away like that. They always do it before we can actually defeat them. It means that we won the fight, but it’s not gone. It knows we're a threat now, and it’s just going to hit harder when it comes back.”

“Ah,” Peter pants. “Wonderful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, writing plot and dialogue: Ah, I've only written three pages.  
> Me, writing action: Oh my, I'm somehow at eight...
> 
> Sorry that this chapter is disproportionately longer than the rest of the chapters. However, that does mean more content for you guys, and a nice long fight scene. I had two more scenes that were supposed to be in this chapter, but those are just going to make up the next chapter. Thanks for reading and see you soon!


	6. Fire that Suit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shield discusses further plans, and Peter gets a pep talk (and some goodies) from a friend.

“Here,” Agent Hill says, handing Peter a small tube. He looks at her questioningly. “It’s a salve. It’ll help with the burns. I got an extra shirt for you, too.”

“Oh. Thanks, Ms.Hill,” Peter gives her a small smile. Beck joins them in the room.

“Just Maria,” She corrects, moving back towards Fury to pull up footage for the debrief. Peter pulls the top half of his uniform- now with some fire-induced holes in it- over his head.

“Whoa there, hot-shot. Don’t be flashing your abs at us,” Fury cuts in, causing Peter to pause. It’s… it’s just easier than trying to do it through the shirt. Isn’t that why they gave him another to-

“He’s just messing with you,” Maria assures, giving Fury a look. He shrugs. Peter brushes it off, opening the salve. It feels cold, and it stings a bit when he puts it on the first burn, but after a moment, it feels a lot better.

“Hey kid, you okay?” Happy says. Peter whirls around.

“Happy?!” He stares at the man in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“I had some uh, security stuff to deal with in the area, and Fury asked me to stop by. He thought I might be of some help,” Happy explains. Fury nods in acknowledgment, but Peter frowns. He’s not talking about the SI robbery, right?

“I’m Quentin Beck,” Beck introduces, crossing the room to shake Happy’s hand.

“Happy Hogan. Are you Mysterio? Peter mentioned you,” Happy greets. Peter’s frown deepens.

“I mentioned him to Aunt May,” Peter clarifies. Happy had just happened to overhear it because he was with his aunt for… whatever reason.

“Not a problem, Peter,” Beck says, patting him on the shoulder that doesn’t have a burn on it. Peter shakes his head, continuing to apply the salve to burns. They’re all just minor burns, but they’re annoying when mixed with the friction of the suit, and they want to minimize his friends noticing them. Luckily, the only injuries that should be visible are the ones on his calf, lower arm, and the cut on his face from getting smashed into the cobblestone.

“Okay, so, let’s start by having Beck explain this,” Fury says, pulling up the footage of the elemental melting away.

“It’s a defense mechanism,” Beck sighs. “If an elemental thinks we’re going to beat them- like if we use a new technique or strategy or something, they’ll just ditch the fight and adapt to it for the next time. They learn fast. It’s part of why they’re so hard to fight.”

“Duly noted,” Fury says. He backs up the footage a bit. “You two fight well together, but Parker, you’re going to have to learn how to take a more distanced approach.”

“Yeah. I figured,” Peter responds, motioning to the burn he’s about to soothe on his abdomen.

“If this goes past the duration of Parker’s trip, we’ll have you do some training together- to improve teamwork. For now though, just keep this up. One of you distract while the other hits.”

“Got it,” Beck confirms. “And we’re not going to use the sonar weapon anymore, right?”

“No. Not if it takes Parker out. It’s not worth it,” Maria promises

“Good. That thing almost knocked me out,” Peter nods in relief.

“What was that, anyway?” Beck asks. “I didn’t even hear anything, but you were on the floor…”

“My powers dial up all my senses, hearing included. I can hear really quiet stuff, as well as some frequencies that I don’t think others can hear. I’m not sure though,” Peter explains quietly.

“You should test that,” Fury says, and it feels more like an order than a suggestion.

“I’m not big on experimenting,” Peter argues. Too many crazies have tried to do the experimenting for him. He knows he should, and he knows from Fury’s expression that this fight isn’t over, but the Shield director lets it drop for now.

“Hogan, do you think Stark Industries has any tech that can be useful?” Fury questions, shifting the focus to Happy. Happy shrugs.

“I don’t think so. You know how Tony was about sharing his Iron Man tech, and the company doesn’t really develop weapons anymore. Not since Tony became Iron Man,” Happy says. Peter wants to blurt out that that’s a lie, but he’s not supposed to know that, and he keeps his mouth shut. There would be too many questions. “We might be able to provide some help tracking them, but as far as fighting them goes, I don’t think there’s much we can do.”

“How would you track them?” Peter asks, and Happy shrugs.

“I don’t know much about tech. I just do the security. I can connect you with the Prague branch though. We might be able to form a partnership, especially based on recent events. Pepper would probably sign off on it,” Happy tells Fury. Peter furrows his brow. Recent events… they’re just referring to the fires… he hopes…

Peter stays quiet for the rest of the debrief, thinking, but still listening. He finishes apply the salve and pulls the new shirt on carefully. He might have to buy something to cover up the cut on his face or come up with some story for it. Maybe he could say he tripped down the stairs, but he doesn’t know how believable that will be. He would need ‘witnesses’ in the hotel.

“Alright. We’ll call it a night,” Fury finally says, and Peter pushes himself to his feet. He’s sore from running around with the school all day and then fighting.

“Peter, you wanna come on the jet for a bit? I wanna talk to you,” Happy says, and Peter nods, trailing after him. It takes a bit to get there, but once they’re on the jet, Peter flops into a chair. He would sit in his usual chair, but… this is a different jet. So much changed in the five years he was gone. It’s still hard to fathom. It felt like mere minutes. Yet, every inch of this damn plane reminds him of Tony. He swallows thickly.

“You okay?” Happy asks, sitting in another chair and rotating to face him. As they sit there, Peter's eyes are starting to burn, and he rubs at them. Happy repeats the question.

“Yeah. It's just... everywhere I go, I see his face. I just really miss him,” Peter admits.

“I do, too,” Happy sighs. Peter bounces his leg nervously, looking around the jet. Even if the jet is white and orange, not red and gold like the Iron Man suit, everything about it still screams Tony. Peter runs his hands through his hair, and Happy frowns. “You wanna talk, kid?”

“The whole world is looking for the next Iron Man. I don’t know if I can live up to that,” Peter mumbles. Fury is treating him like some sort of professional, but whenever he’s around Shield, he just feels like the kid that he is. “I’m in way over my head. Like that fight tonight? That was just  _ one _ elemental. And look at me. I got my butt kicked. I’ve got half a dozen burns!”

“Peter,” Happy starts carefully, trying to find the right words to say. “Tony struggled a lot when he first started. You’re doing a good job. Really. You’re doing a great job. And not thinking you handled fights well? That’s normal, too. Look at it this way. No one got hurt. You won, okay?”

“I just… there’s so much pressure. I don’t think I can do this, Happy. I’m not- I’m not him!” Peter frowns. “He’s like invincible or something! I’m just a kid who got bitten by a crazy spider.”

“Tony wasn’t invincible. No one is. If anything, Tony proved that,” Happy says, and Peter gets confused for a second. Right… If Pepper doesn’t know Tony’s alive, why would Happy know? He turns his gaze to the floor. “Tony second-guessed everything he did. But the one thing he didn't second guess? Was picking you.”

“I’m not an Avenger. I’m not like them! I can’t-”

“You can and you do, Peter. You’re right. You’re not Tony. He chose you because he saw potential. He saw a chance to help someone be greater than himself. I don’t think Tony would’ve done what he did if he didn’t know that you were gonna be here after he was gone. If he were here, he’d be proud of you, Pete. I promise,” Happy gets up from his seat, rubbing Peter’s shoulder. Peter takes a shaky breath. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Happy,” Peter says quietly. He feels his eyes burning, and he doesn’t want to cry again. Not right now. So he tries to change the subject. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh,” Happy’s face falters. “I just wanted to check in with you, really. May and I are both a little worried.”

“You and May?” Peter asks. Happy blushes.

“Sorry. I know it’s kind of awkward for you, Peter. I just really care about her, and she-”

“No, it’s okay, Happy. Really,” Peter interrupts. “Just, if anything happens to me… take care of her, okay?”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” Happy says, and it’s so confident-sounding that Peter almost believes it himself. Almost. He’s going to feel so bad if he has to leave May. Especially after knowing how much Tony’s death hurt him… Peter doesn’t want to think about May anymore, so he moves on.

“Hey, I have uh… I’ve got another question,” Peter says. “What are you doing here, in Prague? Are you really here on business, or just here because Fury called you?”

Happy considers him for a moment before answering. “We had a security breach here. That’s why I came. A lot of files stolen, as well as a device in progress. I wouldn’t worry about it though. Fury just noticed that I was in Prague and asked me to pop by. Why do you ask?”

“I just thought maybe Fury called you to- I don’t know..,” Peter trails off.

“Babysit?” Happy guesses, and Peter does a half-shrug, half-nod. “Peter, you don’t need a babysitter. You’ve grown a lot. You’re your own man now.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Happy asks.

“He keeps acting like he trusts me, but I keep worrying I’m letting him down,” Peter admits.

“Peter, why do you think he asked me to put you in contact with him? Fury thinks you’re going to be the next Iron Man. He has faith in you,” Happy says. Peter winces. There’s the Iron Man thing again. He hates it

“Everyone keeps assumingI’m going to be Iron Man. I don’t even know how to be me, yet. I’m still figuring out this Spider-Man stuff too. I’m still in high school. I’m not- I’m not really ready to do all of this,” Peter gestures to the air around him, and Happy seems to understand what he means.

“Fury called me as a consultant. He didn’t even mention you, Peter,” Happy assures Peter. Peter shakes his head.

“Maybe.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing, kid. You’ll be fine,” Happy says.

“I need a suit,” Peter frowns. “What am I supposed to do if they need me again? I don’t think Fury had spares.”

“Ah. That’s the other reason I brought you here,” Happy smirks, and a part of the plane opens behind Peter. It’s a mini lab. “You take care of the suit. I’ll take care of the music.”

Peter narrows his eyes and enters the small lab. It really is a smaller version of what he and Tony used to work in. AC/DC comes on over the speakers, and Peter smiles to himself. Tony’s favorite. Maybe they can listen to some during Tony’s next briefing. It’d provide good audio cover, right?

Peter powers up the UI and grabs the latest model of his suit. It’s… different. Tony made a lot of improvements were gone. Almost as if he  _ knew _ Peter would be back. Of course the man would never give up on him…

The suit’s design looks mostly the same, so he can revamp that, but the inside is already very improved. He looks through the new tech, a lot of it involving nanotech, and he starts updating it to match the tech that’s been discovered in the last year. Peter’s playing with designs and colors, and he’s so immersed in messing with his new suit that it feels like the old days.

“Tony, can you pass th-“ Oh. Nope. Tony isn’t here. Peter frowns, looking around the lab. He just felt like Tony was there, even if he isn’t. Peter sighs and grabs the tool he needs himself. It’s already 2 in the morning.

“Hey kid, how’s it coming?” Happy asks, having heard him say something after hours of silence.

“Almost there. The suit is just stitching up. I’m making some adjustments to the mask,” Peter explains. “And check this out. I added gliders in a way. Like a flying squirrel suit thing.”  He pulls up a model of how he would look while gliding, a proud grin on his face. Happy gives a rare smile back. It’s been a while since he’s seen Peter this laid back.

“Looks great, Peter. Finish up, and I’ll take you back to your hotel, okay?”

“‘Kay,” Peter agrees, watching the machine build his suit.

By the time Peter gets back to his room, it’s past 3 am, and he pretty much collapses onto his bed. Ned wakes up to say hello, but Peter’s already out, having crawled under the covers in the remains of his stealth suit.

* * *

Peter drags himself back to awareness when he hears Ned’s alarm playing, and even though it’s supposed to wake him up, the Star Wars Intro Theme is just lulling him into a comfortable place. He wants more sleep. He snuggles further into his bed, but he hears the alarm stop a moment later.

“Mr.Harrington wants us in the lobby in half an hour. If you wanna shower, you should get up soon,” Ned says quietly. Peter breathes in deeply.

“Thanks,  _ Dad _ ,” Peter says, and Ned scoffs, rolling over in his own bed. He doesn’t want to get up, but Ned is right. He’s going to need to shower and get ready. Peter pushes it a bit and snoozes for another several minutes before finally rolling himself out of bed. He grabs his phone to use as a flashlight and finds his way to their bathroom. After groping for the light, he finally finds the switch, and he squints at the brightness, immediately dulling it down.

He’s a mess. His hair is all over the place from his mask and from sleeping, and his cheekbone still looks all scraped up. He hopes a shower will help some, but he’s not sure. He’ll ask Ned for help with a cover story. After starting the shower, his phone buzzes at him. Peter sneaks a glance, and his heart drops. Six missed calls from Tony’s number, as well as a dozen texts, with the final one dropping a harsh message.

‘Can I depend on you or not?!'


	7. Exhausted, but not Extinguished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter deals with the fallout of his fight with the fire elemental, including a bit of tension with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I saw Spider-Man: Far From Home, and I can officially say that this story is definitely not canon-compliant. That being said, I feel like I called way too much of this movie. I meant to finish this story before the movie came out, but due to some things irl, that wasn't able to happen. However, before I went to see it, I finished planning the plot for /this/ story, so what happened in the actual movie should have minimal impact on my version of things. So don't worry. You don't have to think I'm 'spoiling' things because this is an AU. It's a little awkward, because some of my plot points ended up being the same (I guess I've read too many comics), but this story should be able to stand on its own. Either way, Far From Home was amazing, and I recommend that everyone see it. Like... immediately.

After Peter’s call goes unanswered, he takes a quick shower, just long enough to make sure he's scrubbed all the soot and sweat off his body. He gets out and touches a burn gently. It doesn’t hurt. Good. He’ll just put some more salve on and wear jeans and a flannel to cover them. Peter wraps a towel around himself and calls Tony again. To his surprise, the man picks up this time.

“Ah, good. I thought you’d run off on me.”

“No! Tony, I would never-”

“Shh. Don’t say my name. You’re terrible with secrets,” Tony snaps, and he sounds angry. Peter bites his lip.

“I am so sorry I missed your calls. I was with Happy making a new suit, and then I was sleeping. I didn’t mean to, I swear.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. But when I call because we need to meet, you can’t ignore me,” Tony says.

“I’m sorry. I feel so guilty,” Peter apologizes.

“So can we meet?”

“I- uh, I have to go somewhere with the school soon.”

“Ah. I see,” Tony says, and Peter can hear the disappointment in his voice. “You’re just all I’ve got to help me, Parker.”

“I know. I’m sorry. You know I can’t leave the class… You already had to get me off with the principal once before, and I don’t want you to have to do it again. I can’t use your internship as an excuse anymore,” Peter reminds. There’s a long pause on the other line.

“... I get it. Call me back when you have time for me,” Tony says, and the line ends.

* * *

“Peter, you with us?” MJ calls, and Peter pulls his head out of his hand.

“Hmm?”

“You’re barely awake,” MJ says, nudging his arm.

“Yeah,” Peter mumbles, fighting to keep his eyes open at the breakfast table.

“Well, he’s running on three hours or so of sleep,” Ned scoffs. “We need to get you some coffee, dude.”

“No coffee. You know that’s a bad idea,” Peter objects, although his words slur a bit.

“Fine, soda,” Ned says, sliding his drink closer to his friend. Peter sighs and takes a long sip.

“What happened to your face?” Betty asks. The question’s been burning in her mind for some time, but she’d been waiting to see if someone who knew him better would bring it up. Peter straightens up a little at this.

“Uh,” Peter turns his head a little, looking toward the Old Town Square. When they’d arrived, police had turned them away, citing that they were still cleaning up, and the site wouldn’t be open for a couple hours, so Mr.Harrington opted to move breakfast up in the schedule and go to one of the nearby museums while they waited. However, Peter can spot the small crater he’s pretty sure  _ he _ created from the patio they’re eating on. He turns back to Betty. “I slipped in the bathroom. Hit my face on the uh… the counter.”

“It’s made of smooth granite. It would just be a bruise,” Betty points out, tilting her head.

“Yeah, well, he hit the lower part of it. The wooden cabinets, remember?” Ned adds on, and Peter gives him a grateful look for the save. The shower had helped some, making it more of a collection of scratches than a singular, bloodied mess, but it still looked like he’d taken a hit due to the bruising around it.

“Smooth,” Michelle comments teasingly, although her lip curls in a way that Peter thinks is concern. She looks over at the parts of the square that are visible from the cafe before taking a sip of her tea.

Breakfast arrives, and Peter practically inhales his food, having worked up such an appetite the night before. Even when he’s finished his own plate, he eats some of the leftovers that Michelle doesn’t want. He’s also gone through the whole basket of complimentary bread they gave the table of four, and the waiter seems to be side-eyeing Peter a little more than the rest of his classmates scattered around the patio. He’s too tired to care really, but he apologizes and thanks them in Czech when they take it away to refill it.

One museum and a tour of the underground later, they’re finally allowed into the Square to explore a bit. There are some local vendors selling things for some sort of summer festival despite the scorch marks and rubble around them. For the most part, nothing seems to be getting in the way of the tourism industry here.

“You okay from last night?” Michelle asks at some point, coming to stand beside him at a stall. Peter nods.

“Yeah. More or less. I heal fast. Should be good as new in a couple of days,” Peter flashes her a smile, and they turn away from the vendor, walking towards the statue in the middle of the square.

“Jan Hus monument,” Michelle supplies quietly. “He was a protestant reformer whose death sparked a revolution.”

“So a martyr,” Peter comments, and Michelle nods. He reaches out to touch the edge of the statue, but he pulls his hand back quickly. “Ow!”

“What?” Michelle asks, tilting her head.

“It’s hot. Like,  _ really _ hot,” Peter explains, shaking his hand from yet another burn.

“It’s not even that hot out today,” Michelle says. “Look.” She reaches out to touch the statue for herself, and without thinking, Peter grabs her hand, pulling it back. Michelle looks at him, and Peter quickly lets go, blushing.

“Sorry. I just don’t want you to burn yourself,” Peter explains. He takes an awkward step back, and his foot sinks into the stone a little. Peter tilts his head and looks down. How did he leave a footprint there? He takes a step back towards MJ, and he realizes most of the cobblestone is softening. What? It’s like… melting.  _ Melting _ .

“Crap,” Peter says as more warning bells go off in his head. He grabs MJ’s hand again, pulling her back from the monument.

“What are you doing?!” She asks, whirling to look at him.

“The stone’s turning soft. Can’t you see it?” Peter asks, but she looks at him like he’s crazy. “Just… trust me, okay?”

“Hey Peter,” Ned greets, coming up to them with Betty in tow.

“Hey. We should go see that astro clock,” Peter says quickly, giving Ned a pointed look that he misses.

“Betty and I wanted to explore the stalls here a bit more-”

“No. I just have this really strong  _ feeling _ that we should go see the clock right now,” Peter emphasizes ‘feeling’, and this time Ned seems to get it.

“Oh,” Ned says. “Let’s go that way then.”

“What?” Betty asks, confused by the sudden change. Peter hears a hissing noise, and he looks over his shoulder. A few surprised screams follow it. Fire is rising from the ground.

“Uh, should we-?” Michelle starts.

“Yeah. Move!” Peter shouts, and they skitter away from the center of the square. The fire elemental is coming back. Peter swings his backpack so it’s just on one shoulder, rummaging through it. Pager. He needs the pager. Ned is pulling him back through the crowd as he looks for it, trying to get them as far away as possible.

Peter finally finds it, getting it into his hand. He flips it open, but his Spider Sense screams a warning at him. Peter looks up and grabs Ned, pulling him out of the way of a fire attack that seemed aimed right at them. Or rather, _him_ .

“It knows who I am,” Peter tells Ned, panic rising in his throat. “Come on! We gotta go!” Betty and Michelle find them again, and the group of four runs down the street. Peter swerves left, guiding them into a side street off the main path. Another ball of fire shoots past. His pager is gone, and Peter can only assume he dropped it earlier when he grabbed Ned.

“Hold on, hold on,” Peter says, reaching into his pocket. He sends a quick text to Tony, reading ‘Caught in a rainstorm by the square’

“Peter, now’s really not the time to be texting!” MJ shouts, hitting his hand.

“Okay, okay, let’s go!” Peter puts his phone away, and they resume running through to the other side of the street. The fire follows. Peter realizes with growing dread that it’s after him. “We need to split up!”

“What?!” Ned asks over the sound of the chaos.

“Just trust me. You guys go that way- I’ll go this way. We’ll meet at the hotel,” Peter backs away from them, and though Betty reaches for him, the crowd of tourists running away gets between them, and they’re separated. Peter quickly sprints away from the rest of the crowd. No one’s going to get hurt because of him. The monster follows, as expected, and Peter has to be careful about dodging, trying to keep the buildings from catching fire while keeping himself safe. He could really use a spot right now. He clambers up a building, getting to the rooftops. There’s no Iron Man or Mysterio in sight. A flameball hits the roof he’s on, and the impact nearly throws Peter off the roof. He catches himself on the edge, hanging by one hand.

Peter leaps to the next building, climbing back up to resume running along the roofs. He can see the river. Spider-Man leaps and doges and sprints, trying not to slip on the roofs, as every single one seems to be on an angle. He finally hits the water’s edge and tosses his backpack to a secure part of the last roof. With one final jump, he dives into the water.

“Ah! Cold!” Peter gasps when he breaks the surface again, and he sees the fire elemental at the edge of the water, looking for him. He ducks back underwater and swims for the bridge. He gets under it, pressing himself up against the slimy wall. He closes his eyes. All he can do is wait it out.

* * *

“Peter!” Ned quickly gets up from the lounge chair when he sees his friend enter the lobby. Michelle seemingly appears out of nowhere, standing next to Ned. “Dude, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter says, slinging his backpack off his shoulder. He’s been trying to keep it dry, but it hasn’t been easy when he’s sopping wet. He dried off some on the walk back, but he can still see the hotel receptionist eyeing his wet hair.

“The fire monster-”

“-knew I was… y’know..,” Peter lets both his friends mentally fill in the blank. “I lost it by jumping into the river.”

“Oh. So that’s why you smell like dead fish,” Michelle says, making sure to keep her distance a little.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go shower now,” Peter pushes past them, checking his phone. Still no response from Tony. He sends another text, asking to meet.

* * *

“Room service,” A voice calls through the door, and Peter runs a hand through his wet, but at least clean, hair. He finishes getting dressed and opens the door.

“I didn’t order- oh,” Peter’s posture softens, and he widens the door to let Beck in, closing it behind him.

“Hey kid, you okay?” Beck asks, trying to look him over.

“Yeah- yeah, I’m fine,” Peter says, brushing the man’s hands away from him when he tries to check on a burn.

“Okay, okay, hotshot,” Beck says. He grabs the lid of the food tray, moving it to reveal a new pager. “Fury wasn’t sure if you’d lost yours. He sent me by with another one and to check on you.”

“I did. Thanks,” Peter says, grabbing it.

“So you’re okay?”

“Could’ve used you or- someone, but I made it, didn’t I?” Peter huffs. He still doesn’t know why Tony didn’t respond, and it’s throwing him off. He turns away from Beck, setting the pager on his sidetable. “Anything else?”

“No. Not unless you want to talk,” Beck says. Peter gives him a confused look. “I'm here for you if you need it, remember? I know the others can’t really understand the superhero stuff.”

Peter frowns. He does want to talk. He wants to ask if Mysterio or Shield know about Tony. He doesn’t think they do, but he is also worried about Tony now. Tony always comes for him when he needs it. That’s why he sent the codeword to Tony. He was asking for help, and he was ignored. However, Peter  _ knows _ he can’t spill the beans on this. He promised to keep it a secret.

“Peter?” Beck asks quietly, sensing his distress. Peter sighs, picking up the pager and messing with it, turning it over in his hands.

“What happened to the Iron Man on your world?” Peter asks. It’s a halfway point, at least. He can talk about Tony without revealing what he knows. Beck gives him a disappointed look.

“Are you still caught up on this Stark thing?” Beck asks. Peter shrugs. He sits down on his bed, and Beck sits next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Look, remember what you said to me? The other day at the bar? You said you weren’t sure you were ready. I know he’s not here to say it, so I will. I’ve  _ seen _ you, Peter. You’re ready for this. And you’re a hero in your own right. You don’t have to be Iron Man, and you don’t need that guy either,” Beck assures. “You’ve got this. I know you think you need help, but you didn’t have any today, and you did just fine.”

“Thanks,” Peter mumbles, still fidgeting with the pager. Beck sighs, getting up.

“Look, I’m gonna give you some time to rest and think everything over. I’ll keep an eye out for energy pulses, and if that thing attacks again, I promise I’ve got your back. Okay?”

“‘Kay,” Peter says, and he lays back on his bed. Beck nods, opening the door to let himself out.

“I’m proud of you, Peter.”


	8. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start falling down around Peter when he takes his next mission for Tony.

“Ah, there you are,” Tony says once Peter climbs onto the roof. Peter looks at him.

“Didn’t you get my text?”

“The one about rainstorms? It seems sunny to me, kiddo,” Tony says, eyeing him.

“No,” Peter says. “Don’t you remember? That’s our codeword for trouble? The fire elemental literally chased me down!” Tony stares at him for a second.

“Yes, the codeword. I remember. I just mean it looks like you got out fine,” Tony clarifies. “I can’t be seen as Iron Man, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Peter says, although he kicks at a rock on the ground. “You could’ve at least contacted Shield or something for me. I lost my pager in the chaos.”

“I’m not in contact with them. And you did just fine, kid. You don’t need me. You know that, right?”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Peter protests, and Tony gives an empathetic frown.

“I never knew what I was doing,” Tony admits, and it feels genuine as he gives Peter a small smile. The teenager sighs.

“Right. Well, I’m sorry about earlier. I was really exhausted after last night,” Peter apologizes. Tony nods.

“I’m sure you were. I’m sorry, too. I wanted to help out, but I couldn’t. And for yelling- you know my temper can get bad sometimes,” Tony admits. Peter glances up at him. Tony never really admits to that kind of thing. He supposes five years gave him some perspective. Perhaps he learned from having Morgan around.

“I know,” Peter shrugs, and he’s again surprised that Tony doesn’t seem to mind Peter confirming a flaw. Weird…

“Moving on,” Tony says suddenly, swerving the subject. “I need you to get some nanobots for me.”

“Nanobots?” Peter asks. He falls right into step with the pace of the conversation, like old times. “Didn’t you practically invent those?”

“I don’t have the equipment to make them anymore,” Tony excuses.

“What are they for?” Peter asks. “Your arm?”

“My-? Oh, yes. It’s for my arm..,” Tony nods along. Peter furrows his brow.

“So, is that a prosthetic? I just assumed the Dr.Cho helped you or something. It was pretty burnt up,” Peter questions. Tony looks at his left hand for a second, but Peter grabs his mentor’s right hand. “This feels really real, y’know.”

“Yeah,” Tony seems hesitant. “That’s the power of nanobots. Because I messed it up so badly when I-”

“-fought Thanos, yeah?” Peter finishes. Tony nods slowly. He looks confused, and Peter’s starting to feel off as well. He does remember what happened, right? He looks into his mentor’s eyes, and there’s that calming, soothing effect again. Peter bites his lip. It was a crazy day when they fought Thanos. If Tony doesn’t remember, well… that’s okay. Peter’s just glad that he’s here, all things considered.

“So you need more for your arm, then?” Peter asks.

“Yes. For my arm,” Tony nods. “They should have it here. In Prague.”

Peter frowns. “The SI branch? But… Mr.Stark… they’re already going to be on high alert from the other day. I think Happy flew in just to investigate it. I don’t know if I can-”

“Of course you can. The same blueprints should apply. You don’t even need any files this time. Just some bots,” Tony smiles, and it’s like he has the entire world’s trust in Peter. Peter can’t bring himself to break that trust, so he swallows down his reservations about this.

“Yeah. I can do it. I’ll see if I can sneak out tonight. We leave for Berlin in the morning,” Peter explains. Tony slaps his back proudly.

“Attaboy. I’ll check in with you tomorrow night.”

* * *

Peter crouches on the edge of the same rooftop as before and takes a deep breath. His palms are sweating, and he tries to wipe them against the sides of his thighs, but it doesn’t do much through the fabric of his suit. He’s not sure about this. Robbing a Stark Industries branch for the second time in a row… even if Tony asked him to… it feels wrong.

“Karen, can you loop the security feed until I give you the all-clear?”

“Sure thing, Peter. Do you want me to find footage without people in it?” Karen asks.

“If you want,” Peter shrugs. “It’s not like they’re not gonna notice I took something. I just don’t want anyone to see me.” He tried to put together something indiscreet. He took the pants from his destroyed stealth suit, the mask, and a charcoal black hoodie. He wishes he had the top from the suit, but it’s got too many holes from the fire in it. This’ll have to do. He can’t run in there decked out as Spider-Man. He’s got his web-shooters keeping the sleeves of the hoodie firmly in place, but the bagginess of it reminds him of his original suit. He feels like it is the original suit. He’s about as confident now as he was then.

“Done,” Karen reports, interrupting him from his thoughts. He better get this done fast. He jumps over the gap between the buildings to land on the Stark Industries building. They’ve rebolted the vent since last time, but considering his superstrength, it doesn’t really do much to stop him. He pulls the vent cover back and crawls in. Nanobots should be stored in the containment room, so all he needs to do is find that. It only takes him about 10 minutes to locate without the blueprints. He sleeps into the room and lands with a quiet thump. There are a half dozen containment chambers, and they look like larger versions of the container he has for his Iron Spider suit back at the apartment. One container should last Tony a long while if he isn’t using it for combat.

Peter pries the first one open, and immediate a shrill whine fills the room. Peter’s spider-sense barks at him, but he can’t scramble back fast enough. Someone’s run around the corner. How did he miss he was in here?!

“Co to děláš?!” The technician asks, staring at the masked thief. He reaches for his phone. Oh no. Without thinking, Peter aims at his hand, sticking it to the desk with a blotch of webbing. “Co to-”

Peter clutches his head. No! He can’t hurt anyone. The technician has fear in his eyes as he watches the thief, and the alarm hasn’t stopped. The alarm probably has a timer to alert the authorities if it isn’t shut off quickly. Peter clenches his eyes shut, mentally apologizing for what he’s about to do.

He sticks his hand in the container, and the nanobots scramble up his arm. Peter’s beyond grateful he remembers how to command them. They form what looks like one of Iron Man’s cannons around his arm. Peter closes the distance between them and tears the technician’s hand free from the desk.

“The alarm! Shut it off!” He threatens the employee with the blaster, although Peter can feel the guilt swirling in his stomach. How is he doing this? The employee doesn’t seem to understand him. Of course. English…

“Alarm!” Peter shouts, pointing at the ceiling and then his ear with his free hand. “No alarm! Off!”

The employee shakes his head, and Peter can’t tell if the man is refusing or just doesn’t understand. It doesn’t matter. The whole thing is a bluff anyone. Peter can’t hurt anyone. He won’t. However, he can hear footsteps in the building now, running toward them. He shifts his arm and fires the cannon.

The ceiling between the technician and the door collapses in with the tile from the floor above, blocking anyone from getting into the containment room. Not unless they go upstairs first, and by that time, Peter’s going to be gone. The technician backpedals away from Peter until he trips on some of the rubble and falls back, leaning against it. He whimpers and still tries to scramble away. Peter orders the nanobots to dissolve the cannon. He just needs to go. There’s a banging at the door, and Peter puts a finger over his lips, signaling the technician to stay quiet. He looks scared out of his mind. Poor guy...

Peter turns his back on him to leave, but he feels someone approach him behind. He instinctively swings around, and his fist hits the man in the face. Peter covers his mouth. No! He didn’t mean to- the man isn’t dissuaded, and he tackles Peter, knocking him into the ground. Peter grunts and rolls over in his grip, trying to squirm out from under him. He doesn’t want to hurt the man. He’s a civilian.

The man’s hand finds Peter’s wrist, and Peter doesn’t have a choice. He wedges his knee between them and kicks the man off, sending him back into a container. He doesn’t move. Peter frowns as he scrambles to his feet. He listens. Even over the alarm, he can still hear a heartbeat. Thank god. Peter webs himself upwards, back into the vent. The alarm is in the whole building now, and he can faintly hear a whining noise outside. It’s Prague sirens. The police are here. Peter crawls as fast as he ca back to the roof and jumps to the nearest rooftop. And the nearest after that. He stops a few blocks away. That didn’t go well.

His vision grows brighter, and he realizes he’s in a spotlight. Words are being spoken to him in Czech. No! He breaks into a sprint, and he swings briefly down the street before stopping on a different roof. He can’t swing. No one can know he’s Spider-Man. He switches back to running, parkouring his way through the city, back toward the hotel. Not directly toward the hotel, but enough that he’s still headed in somewhat the correct direction. It takes him another few minutes to escape the spotlight, and he ducks into the inner workings of a billboard for cover. He tilts his head back, resting against the cool metal. What has he done?

* * *

“Peter!” Ned says, scrambling to his feet as soon as Peter rolls through the window, and Michelle comes out of his bathroom when she hears his name. They were waiting for him. Peter forgot he gave her a spare key just in case. “What the heck happened?”

“What?” Peter scrunches his face in confusion. “What do you mean?” He looks down at himself. Does he look hurt?

“This,” Ned says. He clicks his phone open and shoves it into Peter’s hand. It’s on the news alert app, and there are several notifications from the last half hour. Peter narrows his eyes and skims. Armed robbery… Stark Industries… Swinging… Suspect in Black… Stay Indoors. Peter’s heart skips a beat, and he tears his mask off, making sure he’s reading it right.

“Was that you?! You didn’t even tell us you were going out. You told me you’d be honest with me,” Ned says, and Peter can hear the bit of betrayal in his voice. Ned is right. He told them he was going to bed early.

“With  _ us _ ,” Michelle corrects, crossing her arms. Peter frowns, and he’s about to answer when he feels the breeze from the open window hit his neck. He quickly closes the window and then the curtains. He sits down on the bed, hard, and he buries his head in his hands. No, no, no…

“Peter,  _ was _ it you?” Ned asks again, although this time, it’s softer, concerned.

“I wasn’t supposed to get caught- I didn’t mean to- I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. No one’s dead, but… holy crap… I screwed up..,” Peter mumbles. Tony’s going to be pissed. Shield is going to be suspicious. He got the nanobots, but now they know for sure that something’s up. The authorities are going to be all over the place looking for the masked thief. What if they put together who he really is? He needs to hide this. The nanobots slide off his hand, forming themselves into a Rubix cube on the sidetable.

“Are those nanobots?” Ned stares at him. Michelle cautiously touches the cube.

“Is that what you were stealing?” Michelle asks. Peter shakes his head.

“No. I wasn’t- I wasn’t stealing…” Peter denies, still not looking up at them. He was… but it was Tony’s and Tony told him to do this, and… why didn’t he think of this before?

“Not like you look suspicious or anything,” Michelle starts, and Peter shakes his head, looking up at her.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” He asks, and she falters a bit.

“No… that’s why I’m asking you what’s up,” Michelle clarifies.

“Peter, what’s been going on?” Ned asks carefully. He sits across from Peter. “You’ve been going out a lot lately… More than we’ve been seeing the elementals. Is there something else going on?”

Peter shakes his head. He can’t tell them. He promised Tony he wouldn’t. But Tony… he must’ve thought of this. He must’ve known that it was a possibility that Peter might get caught or have to fight someone. He hurt  _ a civilian _ . Some poor, innocent technician who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tony wouldn’t put anyone in danger like that. Well, maybe himself, but not anyone else. Peter drops his head back into his hands, head spinning. He’s so confused. Did he do the wrong thing? Or was he just not good enough to do a simple task for Mr.Stark? Either way, he’s messed up. Michelle stretches out a hand, and rests it on his shoulder, but Peter flinches and shrugs her off.

“No,” He says quietly, but firmly. “Just leave me alone for now.”

“But-” Ned starts.

“Ned!” Peter growls, and Ned looks disappointed. Ned gets to his feet and goes to stand beside MJ.

“We’ll be in the lobby,” Ned says quietly, heading for the door. Michelle looks at Peter, hesitating, but she follows Ned out. Peter runs his hands through his hair, and he chucks the mask on the bed to the side. He rips back the covers of the bed and lays against the pillow, pulling the sheets over his head. He curls up, trying to think… trying to understand…

* * *

_ Tony’s got his hand around Peter’s shoulder, leading Peter toward the Iron Spider suit. It’s the first time he’s seen it. He’s in awe. _

_ Peter’s clutching onto the side of the Q-ship, struggling to breathe in the thinning atmosphere. He figures it isn’t long until they hit light speed and he’s torn apart by the lack of pressure in space, but he’s having a hard time thinking about that, or anything at all. Tony’s voice cuts through the blur. “You gotta let go, Pete. I’m gonna catch you.” _

_ Peter stumbles forward, colliding with Tony, who instinctively catches him. Peter’s stammering and begging and crying and pleading, and Tony tries to mumble words of encouragement, but Peter can feel himself fading. He can feel himself falling, and a blinding light wipes the scene away. _

_ Tony steps out of his suit, and Peter stumbles backward this time, away from his mentor. “I’m gonna need the suit back… I wanted you to be better…” _

_ But Peter was trying… He was trying to be better. He got the infinity gauntlet, and he got it past the aliens and to the really strong blonde lady… _

_ It wasn’t enough. Tony sat in front of him, image focusing and refocusing as tears tried to blur out Peter’s vision. “You did it, sir.” Peter can hear Tony’s heartbeat slowing. He can see the burns on his right side, stretching from the tips of his fingers up through the side of his face. Tony’s eyes are going hollow, and Peter’s pulled away. Except instead of being pulled into Rhodey’s strong arms, Peter feels like he’s falling… he’s falling and there are no webs. _ He hits the bed.

Peter gasps awake, clothes solidly sticking to his body. He feels sick. Peter’s falling again, but this time it’s out of bed, and his knees hit the floor. He scrambles back to his feet, groping his way to the bathroom before he loses it. Peter throws up into the toilet, and he rests his head against the seat. He hears footsteps, and he coughs as another wave hits him. He feels the room brighten around him, just a little bit, and knees touch the floor beside him.

“Peter,” A voice says, and a hand touches his back carefully. Peter turns and buries himself into Ned’s shoulder, tears escaping the prison of his eyes and wetting his friend’s shirt. Ned is slow to react, but he wraps his arms around Peter, letting his friend cling to him. They sit like that for a while, Peter sobbing and trying to get his breath under control. Ned waits until he thinks the worst of the panic attack has quelled to speak.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Ned assures, and Peter shakes his head against Ned’s shoulder. He feels Ned take a deep breath. “Were you having a nightmare about Mr.Stark?”

Peter peels himself back and looks at his friend’s face. He notices for the first time that Ned had turned on the lights to dim, and he can see the concern written into Ned’s features. He never told Ned about Tony. Right? He hasn’t messed up. He hasn’t told anybody that Mr.Stark is alive… “What makes you think that?” He sniffles.

“You… you talk in your sleep. You kept saying ‘Tony’s alive.’” Ned explains, and Peter feels his breath catch in his throat. Did he already let the cat out of the bag?! “I know how hard it’s been for you since he di- y’know...”

“Tony, he-” Peter starts, but his tongue goes thick and he stops talking. Ned nods in understanding.

“It’s okay to wish he was still here, Peter. Denial is one of the stages of grief,” Ned says, placing his hands on Peter’s shoulders. Peter relaxes a little. Okay… Ned thinks the comments were just from the nightmare. That’s good… he supposes. However, he feels the increased pressure on his shoulders, both literally and metaphorically. He was almost relieved. That one second that he thought Ned knew… he felt like he had a little less of the world on his shoulders. But no… the burden is his to carry. He has to hold the secret in. Even when Ned keeps speaking.

“You said it yourself, Peter. No one can survive what he did, right?”

“Right. Thanks,” Peter whispers, and Ned nods. He slowly pulls away, standing to grab a glass from the countertop. He fills it halfway with water and passes it to Peter. He takes a careful sip and swallows gratefully.

“You wanna sit for a few more minutes?” Ned asks.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Five more minutes, and then you can try and sleep again, okay?” Ned suggests. Peter nods.

“Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ever writing something, and you have a plan, but then you start writing, and everything goes off the rails? That's what this chapter did to me lol. He was only supposed to be a little bit caught, and he got a lotta bit caught... Poor kid...


	9. This does NOT Rock.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As suspicions around Spider-Man ramp up, the worn-down teenager takes on another elemental in Berlin.

Peter takes his seat on the bus, slumping against the window. He’s exhausted from all these missions, and from what Beck texted him via pager this morning, it’s not going to stop. He said that if the fire elemental can track him, the other elementals probably can too. Beck was farther out of old town when the attack happened, so that’s why it must’ve gone after Peter. Shield doesn’t want Peter to separate himself from the class, so Shield is just going to follow him to Berlin. Peter hasn’t had a full night of sleep in days, so the idea of a four-hour bus ride sounds heavenly. However, he feels the seat next to him sink in, and he groans.

“Ned, I wanna sleep,” Peter grumbles.

“You also wanna complete heists though, right?” Michelle asks. Peter flinches. Not Ned. He turns his head to look at Michelle, who’s waiting for an answer with her arms crossed. He blinks slowly.

“Can we do this later?” Peter says.

“Fine,” Michelle sighs and unfolds her arms. She doesn’t move though. Peter knows he should be glad that she’s sitting there, but he’s more focused on the constant drag of sleepiness, so he leans against the window again, shutting his eyes.

* * *

A hand grips his, squeezing it. Peter blinks awake, and as his eyes come into focus, so does his spider-sense. Michelle is holding his hand, but she’s trying to see something at the front of the bus.

“What-?” Peter starts, but Michelle hushes him. Peter sits up a bit more, looking too. It seems like they’re in traffic. Michelle leans back in her seat and looks at Peter again. She suddenly realizes she’s still gripping his hand and lets go immediately.

“I think they’re searching vehicles,” Michelle whispers. Peter squints ahead through the windshield of the bus. “I didn’t know if it was important or not, but- I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“No- it’s… thanks..,” Peter stammers. It’s good that she woke him up. He grabs his backpack, pulling it into his lap. He’s pretty sure he left the remains of the suit in his suitcase, and luckily, it looks like he did. All he has on him is the usual touristy stuff, Tony’s glasses, and the nanobots still in disguise as a rubix cube. He hears the door of the bus open. Someone is speaking Czech, so he grabs the glasses before hastily shoving his bag back under the seat in front of him.

“ _ -searching all vehicles trying to leave after the recent attacks _ ,” The police officer finishes in a translated voice. Peter breathes in relief. Yinsen, as Tony had named the AI, knew to start translating immediately.

“ _ These are Americans, _ ” The bus driver responds. “ _ I need to explain in English. _ ”

The officer nods, and the bus driver turns to Mr.Harrington. “They want to search bus. Just a security measure. Dog.”

“Okay,” Mr.Harrington whispers, although Yinsen amplifies it. Harrington switches to a louder voice. “Listen up, kids. They want to bring a dog on the bus. Don’t worry- no one’s in trouble. They’re searching all the vehicles, so just stay seated and we’ll get moving again in just a second.”

“Peter, do you..,” Michelle whispers before stopping herself. She grabs her phone and types it out in a note. ‘Have anything they’ll find?’

“No,” Peter whispers back. At least, there shouldn’t be any problems. All he has is technology on him, and he doesn’t think a dog will think much of that. However, that doesn’t keep his anxiety any quieter as the paws of a labrador pad down the aisle. The dog sniffs the ground. It goes to Flash briefly and sniffs the phone in his hand, but the lab keeps going. As it nears Peter, its ears perk up. The dog nudges his nose at Michelle’s feet, and she quickly pulls her knees to her chest. It takes another step forward and sniffs at Michelle’s backpack. The dog stretches its neck to investigate Peter’s. Peter feels like the dog sniffs his backpack forever before it suddenly sits down, looking up at its handler and pawing his leg. The officer looks at Peter, who fights not to pale.

“ _ Pass me your backpack, sir,” _ The officer says, and Peter takes a moment to respond before he grabs it.

“Yeah. Of course,” Peter lifts it up and hands it over. The officer opens the main pocket and sets it on the floor, letting the dog sniff inside of it. Peter’s enhanced hearing picks up the sharp breath from Michelle, and she grips his hand again. The officer starts looking through the backpack himself, and no one on the bus says anything. The dog barks quietly at the rubix cube. The officer looks between Peter and the cube. He twists one of the colors out of place, and to Peter’s relief, nothing happens. The cube turns as it should.

“ _ Sorry _ ,” The officer apologizes. He sets the cube back in the bag and hands it back to Peter. Yinsen shows text in Peter’s vision to suggest a response in Czech.

“ _ It’s okay, _ ” Peter says, gaining a confused look from Michelle. The officer nods, and after going to the back of the bus, the officer turns around, asks the bus driver to apologize on his behalf, and leaves. Peter drops the tension in his shoulders, leaning against the seat. He feels for the cube in his bag and wraps his free hand around it. Michelle leans in, and her hair touches Peter’s ear.

“That was close,” She whispers. Peter turns his head to face her, but now they’re so close that their noses almost touch. They could probably… y’know… Michelle leans back, retracting her hands and looking down at them.

“Yeah,” Peter says nervously. He sets his bag down, tucking the cube in the pocket of his sweatshirt. He tries to return to normalcy, going back against the window. However, he’s too worked up now, and he can’t sleep. An hour later, he hasn’t made any progress. He sighs and checks his phone.

“I thought you were trying to sleep” Michelle says, looking up from her own. Peter shrugs.

“I can’t sleep,” Peter explains, and suddenly, his glasses light up again. He forgot he’d been wearing them.

“Tony often struggled with insomnia and asked for my assistance. Would you like some help?” Yinsen asks. Peter tilts his head.

“I guess?” Peter says, waving Michelle away and putting a hand to his ear when she gives him a weird look. The small speakers of the glasses start to play AC/DC. Peter scoffs, but he can’t help but smile. He leans against the window and shuts his eyes.

* * *

"Hey kid. How was the city?” Beck asks, catching Peter as he walks in.

“It was fine. Michelle and I competed in this game at the Berlin Spy Museum. Like y’know how those movies always have all the lasers that you need to dodge? It was like that,” Peter gives a tired smile.

“Did you let her win?” Beck asks. Peter tilts his head.

“What?”

“You know… if you like a girl, you should let her beat you at stuff. So she feels strong and independent,” Beck explains. “Didn’t anyone ever give you dating advice?”

“Uh, no. I never really had anyone to-“ Peter stops a little short, remembering the time that Mr.Stark started giving him dating advice and Pepper practically yelled at Peter to ignore everything Tony said. “I think it’s okay. Michelle has more than enough independence. She’s really sure of herself. I like that…”

“Okay, your call, junior,” Beck holds his hands up in mock defeat. “It’s your gal.”

“She’s not mine,” Peter insists. “Besides, she already knows I’m Spider-Man, so it would make no sense for me to-“

“Hey. This is kick-ass 101, not dating 101, so get over here,” Fury interrupts, causing Peter to blush. “We need to get busy- and I don’t mean in that way.”

“Right. Sorry, sir,” Peter says, and he comes over to the console. Fury sighs and pulls up coordinates.

“According to the patterns, we can expect an attack at any of  _ these _ places,” Fury says. Four different colors of markers pop up, located at different places around the city. “Green is earth, blue is water, red is fire, and white is air, as far as our elemental key is going.”

“There’s only one white marker,” Peter frowns, zooming in on it. It’s the Berlin Tegel Airport.

“Since air is everywhere, it could attack anywhere. We just thought the airport would be a target where it could maximize damage,” Beck explains, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. He uses his other hand to point to the planes. “We’d have to be on the lookout for any planes trying to land if an attack happens there.”

“Got it,” Peter says, shifting his weight slightly so Beck’s hand rests more comfortably.

“Your school is scheduled to be in the vicinity of these locations,” Fury says, and a number of them light up. “If we assume their communication is evolving, it may come after you or Beck again. Although we aren’t sure how they’re tracking you two…”

“Or why the fire elemental decided to go after Peter instead of Quentin,” Maria adds. Beck frowns and tightens his grip on Peter’s shoulder.

“Maybe it thinks he’s the weak link,” Beck says, but he quickly adds on. “It’s wrong about that though.”

Peter looks up at Beck and gives a grateful smile. Fury raises his eyebrows.

“Anyway, we’re uploading all of this to your communicator, Parker,” Fury explains. “You can see it there, and remember to keep it on you  _ at all times _ , since you appear to have a problem with that.”

“At all times?” Peter raises an eyebrow. “I have been…”

“You dropped it in the street in Prague, and we’re not sure if you’ve left it in the hotel or not.”

“Why would I have forgotten it in the hotel?” Peter furrows his brow.

“In case you don’t want us knowing where you are 24/7,” Fury says, and he fixes a scrutinizing gaze on Peter.

“I mean, it is a bit of an invasion of privacy, but I haven’t-“

“Hmm,” Fury’s grunt cuts him off, and Peter feels his chest tighten a little. He only left it in the hotel once. “Did you get out of Prague okay, Parker? We know they were searching vehicles, and we thought you might cause suspicion.”

“Oh,” Peter says quietly. He feels Beck let go of his shoulder and back out of the way as Fury comes closer, towering over Peter. “Why?”

“Your tech.”

“Oh. Yeah. Well, they didn’t seem too concerned,” Peter says. “My new suit was under the bus. I have it now though.”

“Any idea what the searches were about?” Fury asks. Peter’s mind flickers through some of the lying techniques that he’s literally googled, and he decides to go with playing dumb.

“Erm- no, not really. Some sort of security threat or something? I assumed it was elemental related,” Peter stammers.

“Someone robbed a Stark Industries facility. We suspect this person had abilities,” Fury corrects, and Peter can feel the man watching his face for reactions. He fights to keep his face blank, but thinks maybe he should seem upset instead.

“People are robbing SI?” Peter asks, lips curling into a frown. “Just because Mr.Stark is-“ he cuts himself off to sell it. “Do we have any leads?! Do we know who?”

“We have a couple ideas,” Fury says, single eye bearing down on him.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Suspect seemed to be agile. Some of the evidence at the scene suggests prior knowledge of the technology. Some poor civilian was caught in the crossfire.”

“Is he okay?” Peter asks quickly.

“ _ They _ ’re fine, just shaken,” Fury says, but from the way he says it, Peter knows he just walked into a tripwire. Why would he know it was a male-appearing victim?! He wouldn’t unless he was there…

“I want to show you some evidence we pulled from the scene. It might be enlightening,” Fury says, and Peter fights the urge to shrink back on himself. Does Fury know? Or is he just suspicious? Fury reaches for something on the table, but he doesn’t take his eye off of the teenager in front of him.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have an energy pulse in the part of Tiergarten near Pariser Platz,” Beck interrupts, and he steps between the pair. Peter relaxes slightly, and as juvenile as it seems, he feels a bit safer with Beck blocking Fury from his vision.

“The elementals must’ve detected that we were together,” Beck offers. Fury shifts to the side, giving Peter a hard look. Beck holds a hand out. “That’s a big tourist location. We need to go before anyone gets hurt. Peter, why don’t you go get changed?”

Peter gratefully backs away, looking for the bathroom of this place, or at least a secluded spot. He hears Fury mumble something as he walks away. “We’re not finished with this.”

A minute later, Peter re-emerges in his new uniform, dropping his backpack next to the control table.

“I like the black,” Beck compliments, and Peter smiles under the mask.

“Thanks.”

“Let’s do this, junior,” Mysterio says, starting toward the door.

* * *

“They’ve cleared the square, so you should be in the clear to engage,” Fury says over the comms.

“Got it. Do we know if this one has any particular weaknesses? What’s the opposite of earth? Water? Wind?” Spider-Man asks Mysterio. They’re at one of the earth elemental locations, so Peter’s assuming that’s what they’re going to fight. The park adjacent to the square would be a good draw of strength, but the stonework in the square is a threat within itself.

“Nope. Sorry, kid. Just gonna have to break up the rock fair and square. Prepare for a couple bruises,” Mysterio answers, hovering high above the Brandenburg Gate as a lookout.

“At least it’s solid. My webs should at least attach to this one, and I can hopefully trip it up,” Peter suggests. He at least hopes it’s solid earth. Something like dirt or sand would be real messy.

“Alright. I’ve got motion about 75 yards west of you, Pete. I think that’s it,” Mysterio says. Spider-Man shoots out a web to the Brandenburg Gate and swings in the direction of the park.

“I’m on it.”

“Remember to keep your distance.”

“I got it, Beck,” Peter promises, rolling his eyes at the all-too-familiar overprotectiveness.

* * *

The sand hardens around Spider-Man’s fist, and his eyes widen. He presses his feet against the large forearm of the monster, pulling his trapped hand and punching at the rock with his free hand. He feels himself going downward. Not good!

Peter’s head explodes in a burst of pain and color as the monster’s downward arm motion slams him into the ground, and the impact allows Peter to rip his hand free from the stone. He can’t breathe. The wind was knocked out of him, and he’s struggling for air. He sees a blurry green light above him as Mysterio stops a secondary blow.

“-Okay?” Peter catches over the comm. Spider-Man scrambles to his feet, despite the way that his head spins and his vision pitches. They’d ended up back in the square, despite starting the fight outside of it.

“Y-Yeah,” Spider-Man stammers, and another shard of pain goes through his head with Spider-sense. He aims his hand out, but he isn’t fast enough. The earth elemental backhands the teenager, sending him careening into a pile of boulders. The impact leaves a crater that reverberates through Peter’s entire body. Spider-Man tries to get his bearings as Mysterio takes over the distractions for a moment. He should- he should move.

Spider-Man aims a web at a nearby tree and presses the button to pull himself towards it. However, as he moves, pain shoots up his arm. Peter gasps and cuts off the line halfway, landing in a rough roll. He looks down at his left wrist. It’s bent downwards, and it looks a little misshapen. Did he break it?! He tries to lift it up, causing another jolt of pain.

“Beck, I’m working one-handed,” Peter warns, pulling the injured wrist close to his chest for protection. He actually webs it there so he doesn't use it without thinking.

“Damnit, Peter! I told you to keep your distance!” Mysterio hisses, and Spider-Man cringes at what he thinks is disappointment.

“Sorry. I’ll do better,” Peter promises. He switches his right web shooter to web grenades and fires a barrage at the earth elemental, at least slowing it down a little. His head is clearing up, and it needs to because Mysterio looks like he’s struggling with the elemental a bit, pressing his green shields against its fist in a power struggle. Spider-Man fires a ricochet web that bounces off of Mysterio’s shield to hit the elemental in the face. It turns back to Spider-man, who webs himself out of the way. However, he doesn’t have both hands to slingshot himself, and the stream of tiny rocks catches his feet, causing him to swing on the rope. He crashes into a building and loses his grip on the web.

Peter cries out in frustration as he’s downed again. He’s feeling about done with this fight. He looks around, seeing if he can use anything nearby. There are some police cars that were left abandoned in the square. He hopes they have insurance. Spider-Man runs to a car and shoots a web at the back of the elemental’s head before attaching the webbing to the car. He doubles up with a second strand, and the elemental tips back slightly at the tension, turning to look to Spider-Man.

Spider-Man sprints to a car a good distance away, and when the elemental takes a swing at him he connects a web rope to its fist and the car. The fist stops more out of surprise than force, and Peter shoots a web grenade that covers the fist and car in a splash of white. Finally, he did something useful. “Yes!”

The elemental seems confused for a moment, and it roars at Peter. Spider-Man can see that its hand is stuck to the car, so he doesn’t step back at first. At least, not until the elemental starts to drag the car with it. He just weaponized it. “No!”

Spider-Man does a back handspring out of instinct, but his body forgets he only has one hand in commission, and he loses his balance. He scrambles back to his feet just in time for the creature to slam the car into him. The car squishes Peter up against a building, pinning him against the stone. Rock turns to sand again, winding through the broken windows of the car toward Peter.

Spider-Man tries to shove the car away, but the creature is stronger. The sand reaches the teenager, starting to engulf his torso. Peter can feel the weight as it starts to solidify. He’s going to literally be Han Solo’d if he doesn’t move. Spider-Man squirms against the building, but the molten rock is spreading. He flexes his body so that if it solidifies he’ll still have wriggle room. “Beck!”

“Working on it!” Beck responds. He’s sending green blasts at the creature, and it’s causing bits of rock to fly upon impact, but the creature is more or less ignoring him. Peter gets his hand up over the car and aims a taser web for its face, but it doesn’t do much damage. The elemental only pauses for a second.

Peter can’t move his torso anymore. It’s stuck in a Spider-Man shaped rock formation, and his injured hand feels like pins and needles when he tries to press against it. The earth is starting to reach his neck and right shoulder. Mysterio lands on the car, standing between Peter and the elemental. He activates his shield and crashes it into the sand flowing past his feet. It only breaks up the stream a little, but it gives Mysterio the creature’s attention.

Mysterio holds the shield up as the elemental tries to punch with its other hand, and he digs his feet into the roof of the car, pressing against the elemental. Strands of green light swirl around Mysterio, giving the man an extra push, and the hand of the elemental flies back. Mysterio blasts the rock hand pinning the car to the building, and the wrist of the elemental crumbles. The sand flow stops, and Peter breathes a little easier, but he’s still stuck.

Mysterio doesn’t stop to free Spider-Man, instead focusing on the raging elemental. Having found a weakness, the man blasts the joints with energy, causing rocks to shatter. An arm of the elemental falls off, followed by a leg. It’s off-balance, allowing Mysterio to push it over, into the ground. He finishes with a blow to the face with his shield, leaving a torn-up body of rock. Silence engulfs the square as Mysterio lands. Beck demasks and turns to face Peter.

“I  _ told _ you to keep your distance,” Beck growls. He raises a hand to his earpiece, radioing Fury as he looks at the teenager. “We’re done here. Bring a jackhammer.”

“I’m sorry,” Spider-Man apologizes, closing his eyes under the mask. It’s going to be a bit until he’s able to move again, and he’s not big on being trapped like this.

“I really thought you had it in you, kid,” Beck walks to inspect the fallen elemental. Peter takes a deep breath, pressing against the stone. It’s too thick, and he doesn’t have the leverage. Fury’s going to be pissed when they get him out. Peter hangs his head. He’s a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to beat him up that much, but it kinda just happened, so... whoops.
> 
> #PeterParkerNeedsANap


End file.
